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Auckland Airport baggage handler admits role in 500kg meth smuggling syndicate

Kaimela Piukana news
Stock photo.

Kimela Kolo Piukana, a 24-year-old baggage handler at Auckland Airport, pleaded guilty to participating in an organised crime syndicate involved in attempting to smuggle nearly 500kg of methamphetamine into the country.

Piukana was part of a group of airport workers who secretly removed illicit drug shipments from commercial flights from Kuala Lumpur and Los Angeles.

The operation, known as Operation Selena, concluded with Piukana’s arrest in November 2021 after a lengthy undercover investigation by police and Customs. Authorities noted that the smuggling scheme bypassed Customs screenings, with drugs driven off airport grounds and distributed to other syndicate members.

Piukana admitted his role in the syndicate by passing critical messages between key members and participating in the logistics of drug importation. Despite the specific amounts of methamphetamine not being detailed in his plea, police estimated that the group attempted to smuggle around 500kg, with a potential market value between $50 million and $90 million.

The influx of drugs could have caused approximately $550 million in community harm.

Piukana is set to be sentenced in August, with his bail extended until then. His plea follows the recent sentencing of Ralph Anthony Vuletic, who received 10 years’ imprisonment for his involvement in the smuggling operations.

Image credit: Unsplash+

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2 COMMENTS

  1. This is how innocent travelers end-up getting framed in another country.
    Here’s an example…

    Schapelle Leigh Corby (born 10 July 1977) is an Australian woman who was convicted of smuggling cannabis into Indonesia. She spent nine years imprisoned on the Indonesian island of Bali in Kerobokan Prison. Since her arrest Corby has publicly maintained that the drugs were planted in her bodyboard bag and that she did not know about them. Her trial and conviction were a major focus of attention for the Australian media.

    Corby was convicted on 27 May 2005 for the importation of 4.2 kg (9.3 lb) of cannabis into Bali. She was sentenced to 20 years by the Denpasar District Court and imprisoned in Kerobokan Prison. On appeal her conviction and sentence were confirmed with finality by the Indonesian Supreme Court. In March 2010, Corby petitioned the President of Indonesia, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, for clemency on the grounds of mental illness. In May 2012, she was granted a five-year sentence reduction. Corby was released on parole on 10 February 2014 after serving nine years in prison. According to her parole conditions, Corby was to leave Bali on 27 May 2017. She was deported on that date and returned to Australia.

    The Gangsta Wanna Bee baggage handlers are in a perfect position to break into one’s luggage, plant the drugs, and then the baggage handler(s) at the other end opens the luggage, takes the dope out, and then sends the baggage on to the carousel. This happens all of the time, and there are many instances. They don’t care of you get a death sentence or not. FYI, many prison parolees are working as baggage handlers!

    When I travel, I lock my luggage, and have the airline / police put tape around my suitcases. Only then will I allow it to go into the baggage compartment. Going to places that impose a death sentence for importing dope, I CHAIN my luggage and padlock the chain as well as using Police / Airline tape.

    I usually stay out of the death sentence for dope importation nations anyway. Anyone can set you up by breaking into your hotel / hut room, plant dope, and then call the Police. 90 days later, you’ll probably be dead…but it’s OK for the authorities to puff opium in a den using a water bong…(double-standards) to enhance their ‘universe’..!

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