New Zealand and Thailand Customs officials have strengthened their relationship to tackle international drug smuggling in the Asia-Pacific region.

According to Customs data, East and Southeast Asia exports nearly double the amount of methamphetamine into New Zealand than all other regions worldwide.

Last year, 806kg of methamphetamine was seized at the New Zealand border, a more than 600kg jump from the previous year.

Officials from the Thai Office of Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) will visit Auckland and Wellington this week, including Auckland Airport, and the Integrated Targeting and Operations Centre, as well as meet Customs’ detector dog unit.

Officials from New Zealand and Thailand at the official welcoming ceremony at Te Mānukanuka o Hoturoa Marae at Auckland Airport.

Customs deputy chief executive Jamie Bamford said it is important to support the growth of New Zealand’s close relationship with Thailand, especially in tackling international drug rings.

“Our liaison officer based in Bangkok provides a strategic and crucial link to maintaining and enhancing this important relationship,” Bamford said.

“Visits like this cement that bilateral relationship, providing a face-to-face opportunity to share expertise with like-minded agencies who are combating the illicit narcotics trade, which is a major security risk across Asia-Pacific.”

Bamford said there are “significant opportunities” to learn from Thai authorities and to share intelligence.

Last week, training sessions in Northern Thailand were run by two Kiwi intelligence experts from Customs and Police and were attended by 25 officials from law enforcement agencies across Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.

Customs and Police also completed training programmes with countries in Southeast Asia’s “golden triangle”, which includes Burma, China, Laos and Thailand where there has been a significant spike in methamphetamine smuggling in recent years.