Just to update for anyone that may have wanted to follow this case, mainly for people from New Zealand.

He admitted everything to police hoping the courts would go easy on him.

Customs press release.

Wednesday, 18 May 2011, 2:15 pm Press Release: New Zealand Customs Service
Customs continues successful run of drug seizures — and new drug isn’t fooling officers, says Customs
Since the beginning of May, New Zealand Customs has made five separate drug seizures, including stopping a new drug hitting the streets.

New drug an emerging threat
In Blenheim, Christchurch-based officers made an arrest after mail bound for Blenheim containing a rarely seen class A controlled drug dimethylltryphamine (DMT) — similar to LSD — was detected at the mail centre in Auckland. The package contained 18 kilograms of DMT. Previously very small interceptions have been noted in New Zealand, however this is certainly the largest on record. DMT is a psychedelic drug where people react very differently to its use depending on the amount consumed and its purity. This poses a real risk to health. A joint operation between Customs and the New Zealand Police led to a search of the property the package was addressed to. Customs officers arrested a 21-year-old male at the property, who has been charged with importation of a class A controlled drug. The maximum penalty for such an offence is life imprisonment.



So not sure if its because he admitted it, but seems 18kg of root bark seems to equate to 18kg of dmt. They are calling MHRB straight dmt. So I'd say be super careful if people continue to import it in make sure you have a very good reason to, and leave no trace of anything hinting towards illegal use.

Hope the courts don't go to hard on him.

New drug an emerging threat
In Blenheim, Christchurch-based officers made an arrest after mail bound for Blenheim containing a rarely seen class A controlled drug dimethylltryphamine (DMT) — similar to LSD — was detected at the mail centre in Auckland. The package contained 18 kilograms of DMT. Previously very small interceptions have been noted in New Zealand, however this is certainly the largest on record. DMT is a psychedelic drug where people react very differently to its use depending on the amount consumed and its purity. This poses a real risk to health. A joint operation between Customs and the New Zealand Police led to a search of the property the package was addressed to. Customs officers arrested a 21-year-old male at the property, who has been charged with importation of a class A controlled drug. The maximum penalty for such an offence is life imprisonment.

Wow! What an excellent example of government propaganda and lies. All over the world, the public is continually fed these kinds of lies and misinformation. We can all thank GOD, at least, that fiends like the OP will go to prison for LIFE for bringing these evil poisons into the country!!! :evil:

Can that even hold up in their NZ courts? Or are they running some scare tactics? I mean how can someone be wrongly convicted of importing that much? It's almost laughable.

As far as I can tell the police/customs/courts can do what they want.

Not one bit of truth in their, certainly got to question who comes up with this information.

Life in prison for buying tree bark which is being openly and legally sold online, really!?

Meanwhile violent crime continues, government sponsored genocide continues, speed smack & coke continue flooding our streets, and profit driven corporate decimation of planet is business as usual.

I swear once upon a time reason and common sense existed in society...

This makes me sad and sick.
I sincerely pray and hope that this is just the media making a story out of it, rather than a reflection of how the courts will rule this case. This is horrible.

my heart goes out to you on_bail

Thanks for your support guy's it means a lot

This is basically a copy/paste of the post I put on tripme.co.nz;

I appeared in court on the 16th but didn't enter a plea because Customs hadn't got back with disclosure. My next appearance is the ninth of June.

Basically what I told the police was that my intention was to put up a website to sell the bark legally.

What's concerning me most about the information Customs has released is that they haven't specified the amount of DMT or that it was in the form of root bark.

Apparently this was on the national news yesterday, and it was on the front page of the local paper today.

The actual content of DMT in Mimosa is usually between .31\\% - .57\\\% so the total should be well under 100grams. Not 18kgs as stated by Customs.

Here's a link to today's write up;

http://www.stuff.co.nz/m...-drug-bound-for-Blenheim

Also the fact that it's been called a; 'new drug hitting the streets' and a 'New drug an emerging threat' is a worry because DMT was first synthesized in 1931, before LSD, it didn't gain as much popularity because most users found it to be too frightening. Also it's already available all over New Zealand in many of the grass, and some of the trees, and has been sold legally online from a New Zealand store for years.

I'm a little worried that the media being prejudiced like this could affect the outcome of my case.

On a positive note though I've still got my job, despite the publicity, which should help in court, I can also get some good character references, and my records pretty clean.

Thanks again for you help guys,

I'll keep you posted with any updates.

Peace.

Thanks for the update!

I wish you the best of luck!! If there's anything we can do, let us know

Good luck man. just keep promoting your character in a positive light and hopefully they will be reasonable. I'm sure if you can present the facts to them in a clear and unarguable way,they wont be able to justify taking any harsh actions. say what you need to say and only that. Any elaborations that they don't fully understand, will just lead to more of their exaggerations i think.
all the best anyway.

I think they will throw the case out of court.

So far most countrirs have tried the same aproach ie claiming mhrb being dmt and charging people for it, and as far as i know evetually charges has been dropped in almost all cases.

I have a friend in a similiar situaiton who got convicted for 100g rootbark, although the court could not devide if it was root bark or stembark so they charged him as if it was stembark ie 1dose of dmt.

Now however even the procecutor has appealed so he will be totally free of charge for it.

Just listened to a radio interview with customs, crazy how little they know but try to push it as something real harmful.

http://www.radionz.co.nz...arge-amount-of-rare-drug

On Bail..i'm really sorry to hear about your uneducated customs officers trying to ruin your life.But relax, all you have to say is that you imported 18 kilos of mimosa hostilis, which is NOT dmt, but a plant-and it is used for treating burns, and as a natural dye.Your plans were to redistribute it,etc.Nothing illegal about that!!
-It may contain traces of DMT, but it was NOT DMT.They cannot lie, and state incorrect facts, you are protected by the law, and could actually sue them for printing alarmist lies.And these people are paid lots of money, yet can't even get their facts right!!
-You have a VERY serious case to defend, the implications are serious, because the fools reckon you have 18 kilos of class A drug DMT.So it is imperative that you spell it out to them that it is not 18kg of dmt,etc....

GOOD LUCK MATE,i hope you will be fine.

I don't think it matters whether the MHRB has 1% or 0.1% DMT, they add in the carrier weight - thats why they charged for 18Kg.

Look at it this way - if you have 1kg of really good hash and 1kg of really shit hash and are arrested, your still getting done for 2Kg of hash (substititute cocaine, heroin etc etc for hash it makes no difference). The carrier weight is always included.

*****Does that mean a 100kg person would be arrested for 100kg of DMT?*****

Good luck with the courts

Its not the same as examples you have given, as 18kg mhrb isn't 18kg dmt.

Get caught with 1kg of poppy's you don't get charged with 1kg heroin, get caught with 1kg coca leaf you don't get charged with 1kg cocaine, Its once its extracted it doesn't make a difference if you cut mix whatever then the weight is what it is.

GOOD LUCK, man!!!

Are you assuming that, or have you checked the actual wording of the relevant laws?

I ask because that's precisely how it works in the US: from a legal standpoint, 1 kg bark = 1 kg DMT. (In the US, poppies and coca leaves are exceptions to this rule because the law treats them specifically as separate entities... and poppies contain morphine, codeine, etc., not heroin)

At any rate, I wish the individual who has been charged every shred of luck, skill, fortitude, and any other necessary attributes to come through this thing alright. It may not have been the best idea to admit that they intended to use some of the bark for its DMT content, but again, I'm only familiar with the US legal system, which is probably a whole different beast

-Yea, but importing 18 kilos of mimosa hostilis, is not importing 18 kilos of dmt.One is a root, the other is a "chemical".

-To say otherwise would only be possible if you actually admitted to importing dmt....Ahh the law, isn't it a sick play of words.

-The law has to be properly used and specific, otherwise it is just as unjust as an evil criminal.

-DON'T BE THE VICTIM OF THE LAW BEING TWISTED INTO LIES AGAINST THE FACTS..

I've looked into it quite deeply MHRB is legal if imported for industrial use, when its brought in the country for illegal use it falls into a separate group of classed substances along with cactus and the like, they are legal until used for illegal purposes. The charge being possession of a precursor of a banned substance.

Now that's the law in theory but in practice seems to be very different. And for this case in that he admitted the illegal part he can't fight it, but getting the charge corrected to what it should be may be a bit of a battle.

For people interested, basic law on precursor substances in new zealand.

Offence to knowingly import or export precursor substances for unlawful use

(1) Every person commits an offence who—

(a) imports into New Zealand any precursor substance knowing that it will be used to commit an offence under section 6(1)(b) (which is the offence of producing or manufacturing any controlled drug); or

(b) exports from New Zealand any precursor substance knowing that it will be used to commit an offence under a provision of the law of the country to which the precursor substance is being exported that corresponds to an offence under section 6(1)(b).

(2) A person who commits an offence under subsection (1) is liable on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 7 years.

(3) If a person is summarily convicted of an offence under subsection (1),—

(a) a court may sentence the person to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 1 year or a fine not exceeding $1,000, or both; and

(b) the sentencing limits contained in section 7 of the Summary Proceedings Act 1957 do not apply.

Section 12AB: inserted, on 22 June 2005, by section 10 of the Misuse of Drugs Amendment Act 2005 (2005 No 81).

12AC Offence to import or export precursor substance without reasonable excuse

(1) Every person commits an offence who, without reasonable excuse, imports into, or exports from, New Zealand any precursor substance.

(2) Without limiting the circumstances under subsection (1) in which a person may have a reasonable excuse, a person has a reasonable excuse if—

(a) he or she imports a precursor substance into New Zealand in order that—

(i) a medical practitioner, dentist, or veterinarian may, in the circumstances referred to in section 8(2)(a), produce or manufacture a controlled drug from the precursor substance; or

(ii) a pharmacist or any person with the authority and under the immediate supervision of a pharmacist may, in any of the circumstances referred to in section 8(2)(b), produce or manufacture a controlled drug from the precursor substance; or

(iii) the precursor substance be used for a lawful purpose (including, without limitation, an agricultural, commercial, or industrial purpose); or

(b) the precursor substance that he or she is importing into, or exporting from, New Zealand has been lawfully supplied to that person for his or her own medical use; or

(c) he or she exports a precursor substance from New Zealand in order that the precursor substance be used for a purpose that is authorised or lawful under the law of the country to which it is being exported.

(3) The requirements in section 67(8) of the Summary Proceedings Act 1957 relating to proof of any exception, excuse, or qualification do not apply to an offence under subsection (1).

(4) By way of explanation, the effect of subsection (3) is that, in order for a prosecution to be successful, the prosecution must negate beyond a reasonable doubt any reasonable excuse in dispute (being any matter raised as a reasonable excuse by the defendant).

(5) A person who commits an offence under subsection (1) is liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 1 year or a fine not exceeding $1,000, or both.

Section 12AC: inserted, on 22 June 2005, by section 10 of the Misuse of Drugs Amendment Act 2005 (2005 No 81).