- 3 months ago
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Short filmTranscript
00:00Aotearoa, New Zealand is a land apart.
00:04Blue ocean, big skies, massive mountains.
00:09Despite the physical boundaries, our border is constantly threatened with as many risks as other countries.
00:16Drugs, illegal immigrants, pests, and disease.
00:23But the nation's protectors are ever vigilant.
00:26Customs, immigration, and biosecurity officers work day and night to keep us safe.
00:33Definitely not baby powder.
00:35The front line of defence, New Zealand's Border Patrol.
00:50This time on Border Patrol, a woman travels around the world with epic adventure plans
00:56I really, really want to visit where the Lord of the Rings was filmed.
01:01But on a fantasy budget.
01:03Did you buy this ticket yourself?
01:05She spent all of her money just to get here.
01:07A mattress importer tries to spring a surprise on Customs.
01:12Ooh.
01:13But it will bounce back to bite them.
01:16$11,800 duty and GST.
01:19And foreign roots, shoots, nuts, and leaves propagate problems at biosecurity.
01:27This goes on the ground, so any disease in there, pass on to the nearby plant.
01:32At Auckland International Airport, Customs Officer Pratika is with a traveller from Brazil
01:45who sparked a dual alert with both Customs and Immigration New Zealand.
01:52Pratika is satisfied the woman is not carrying anything illegal, so she hands the matter over
01:58to Immigration New Zealand officer, Zaina.
02:00Is there anything you need to know from us?
02:02Um, so nothing in the bag of interest.
02:04A lot of, um, winter clothings and fancy clothings, a lot of, uh, fancy lingeries and nightwears.
02:15The traveller's winter wardrobe and trip booked just two weeks ago raise questions about
02:21her short summer stay in New Zealand.
02:23Can you tell me what is the purpose of your travel to New Zealand?
02:30Melissa, conta pra mim, qual o motivo da sua viagem pra Nova Zelândia?
02:35I want to visitar a casinha do Hobbit.
02:38I really, really want to visit where the Lord of the Rings was filmed.
02:44The pilgrimage to Middle Earth is not unusual for tourists, but what does she intend to do
02:50for the rest of her nine-day stay?
02:51A desire to see the city and a beach is very broad.
03:03Has she made a plan at all?
03:05Can you tell me where this Hobbit houses?
03:09No, I don't.
03:11You'd expect to have done a bit of research before embarking on the trip of a lifetime.
03:15How long have you been planning this trip?
03:19I started saving money since I was a little girl.
03:22Her saving hasn't been going too well.
03:25Although she is carrying the equivalent of $1,600 New Zealand dollars, she hasn't yet paid
03:30for the flight that brought her here.
03:32OK, thank you.
03:32You can put that back.
03:34Did you buy this ticket yourself?
03:35I haven't finished paying for it.
03:39I have instalments and I will start making the first payment in two months' time.
03:44Paying back a $6,000 flight and instalments is a significant expense.
03:52This one is my wages.
03:55The woman is able to show that she's paid $400 New Zealand dollars a month at home.
03:59She's spent all of her money just to get here.
04:02It doesn't seem plausible for someone to travel all the way to New Zealand on low income
04:09and it raises concerns regarding how she will be supporting herself as well as the intentions
04:16of her visit to New Zealand.
04:1730 kilometres away at the port of Auckland, New Zealand Customs are conducting checks on container cargo.
04:32Customs has been notified of some inconsistencies with these packages that arrive from China.
04:37I'm going to open them up and have a good look.
04:39The container the boxers arrived in has been x-rayed and the boxes, labelled as mattresses,
04:45seem to contain more than just foam and springs.
04:49Customs officer Carla is going to manually inspect them to see what's going on.
04:56Ooh.
04:58We've actually got two cartons of cigarettes.
05:02Finding cigarettes concealed in this box is Carla's smoking gun.
05:07OK, we're going to go through the next box.
05:12There we go.
05:13Two more cartons of cigarettes.
05:17As box after box is opened, more and more stashed ciggies are found.
05:22Aha!
05:24It becomes pretty obvious that the sender has intentionally shipped the cheap tobacco
05:28as well as the bedroom furniture.
05:30We've just finished opening up the mattresses from each box and we have found a total of 22 cartons
05:42of cigarettes, 4,400 individual cigarettes.
05:46But is that just the tip of the iceberg?
05:49The shipment also contains boxes and boxes of bed frames.
06:02Immigration officer Zaina is with a 20-year-old passenger from Brazil
06:06who has few funds and fewer plans for a nine-day tourist trip to New Zealand.
06:11Where will you be staying?
06:13The name of the hotel, I can't remember by heart.
06:16It is all in the mobile.
06:19See a PDF?
06:20It's a WhatsApp message, it's not an email, so I want to know how you got that PDF to begin with.
06:31It is myself, I just found the PDF.
06:35The woman's itinerary doesn't look like it's come from a bona fide supplier.
06:41So what I'll do is go back to the office to have a discussion with one of my colleagues.
06:49The news that she's going to have to wait longer doesn't go down well.
06:52I have been questioned here for hours just because you're saying I had no plan this ship of the Hobbiton
07:03because I don't know where it is located.
07:06Irritation doesn't change Immigration New Zealand's process though.
07:10I will be back and it won't be long.
07:20Zaina brings colleague Crystal up to speed.
07:23Her plans aren't really there for someone that's travelled all the way to New Zealand.
07:29First international travel.
07:31And then in terms of funds, it's a big trip.
07:34It's a nine-day trip.
07:36It doesn't seem like she's paid for any activities.
07:38Something is not right there.
07:40To me, I definitely don't think she's paid for it.
07:43Yeah, I don't.
07:43I think someone is organised.
07:46Could be someone there, could be someone here.
07:48You pay this and I get you here, get you the job.
07:52So if we can take some more information, we can go from there.
07:56And in the meantime, I'll help you to call the accommodation and to verify them.
08:02Who has paid for what and why?
08:10Back at Auckland International Airport, a traveller from Brazil claims she's wanted to see Middle
08:16Earth since she was a little girl.
08:18But Immigration Officers Zaina and Crystal are not yet convinced she's a genuine tourist.
08:23The officers make enquiries into the woman's accommodation bookings and return flight with surprising results.
08:33We have information that the booking for your accommodation has been cancelled.
08:38Please explain.
08:40Oh, yeah, you're not saying.
08:42Oh, I don't know.
08:43I have not received any confirmation email, no email.
08:47It's quite common for passengers to set up accommodation bookings and then cancel them
08:58just to present themselves as being a legitimate traveller to New Zealand.
09:03That's far from the only concern, though.
09:05You were asked if anyone had assisted you or booked your tickets for you to which you answered no.
09:11Upon verifying your booking, it was noted that the email address associated with your
09:17booking was not yours.
09:20This leads me to believe that there is a third-day party involved in the booking and
09:25or planning of your trip to New Zealand, which you have been withholding from me.
09:36I'm telling you that the confirmation email is here, but you're not listening to me.
09:41You showed me a screenshot.
09:43I don't believe that you have booked that ticket.
09:47I am not satisfied that you are a general visitor to New Zealand, so my decision is to
09:55refuse your entry permission.
09:56It doesn't matter.
09:58I just want to get out of here.
10:00The sooner, the better.
10:01And never, ever again come back to this shitty place.
10:05Don't worry.
10:06You'll never see my face again.
10:08Okay.
10:08The young woman was sent back to Brazil on the next available flight.
10:21Aha!
10:23Back at the Sea Cargo Inspection Facility, Customs Officer Carla has been finding cartons of cigarettes
10:29hidden in bed mattresses.
10:30But what about the frames?
10:33Okay.
10:34And there we have it.
10:36More cartons of cigarettes.
10:38In China, cigarettes cost a fraction of what they do in New Zealand, and clearly someone
10:43is planning to profit from avoiding duty and GST on them.
10:49With undeclared cartons in every bed-related box, Carla won't rest until she's checked out
10:55every possible cavity.
10:56I'm going to actually open up this mattress to see if there's anything concealed inside
11:02it.
11:04The really large roll-your-own is examined thoroughly outside and in.
11:10I'm happy that there's nothing concealed within the mattress itself.
11:16So just how many smuggled smokes was the sender hoping to sneak in?
11:21We have found a total of 42 cartons, 8,400 cigarettes.
11:28Customs definitely weren't sleeping on the job.
11:31They've prevented anyone profiting from tax evasion.
11:35Approximately $11,800 duty and GST.
11:41The details of the consignment were passed on to the intelligence team, and the cigarettes
11:45were destroyed.
11:51Christchurch International Airport is the gateway between Tewaipaunamu, the South Island, and
11:58the rest of the world.
12:00Border patrol officers must ensure the security and safety of New Zealand and its laws at all
12:06times.
12:07He's with four people, isn't he?
12:08One, two, three.
12:09Three.
12:11Customs officer Paresh is waiting for four men from Mexico who've just arrived on a flight
12:16from Sydney.
12:16I'll get you guys to hang on to your cards.
12:19Hang on to these.
12:21Sir?
12:22Somebody will come and see you very shortly.
12:23If you want to come with me, grab your luggage, which is your luggage.
12:27All of this?
12:27All right, just come with me, sir.
12:30Unlike the other men, this passenger bought his ticket just eight days ago.
12:35Why?
12:36Can you tell me a little bit about your plans for being in New Zealand for 13 days?
12:39So we planned the trip about six or seven months ago, and the plan was to go to Melbourne,
12:44to Sydney, and now we're going on a camping trip to New Zealand.
12:47And you only bought this ticket eight days ago, right?
12:49Last minute kind of thing.
12:51I forgot to put it.
12:53You're putting a trip together for six months and you forget to buy a ticket?
12:56It's a lot of, you saw the amount of flights.
12:58I forgot the New Zealand one.
13:00But it's not the only flight the man forgot to book.
13:03It's a Christchurch, Auckland flight.
13:05The others have already purchased that flight?
13:06I believe so, yes.
13:07So how come you haven't got your flight then?
13:09I forgot about this one.
13:10Too many flights.
13:11I saw it too far.
13:12OK.
13:13The unusual ticketing may just have been an oversight.
13:17But Paresh needs to make sure everything else is above board.
13:21OK, I'm happy with that, yeah.
13:22I'd just like to have a quick look for your bags and see what you've got in there, yeah?
13:26Can you pack this yourself?
13:32There's nothing to be worried about in his suitcase,
13:34but the passenger seems anxious about something.
13:37What's in your backpack?
13:43I have my computer.
13:48No recreational drugs of any kind, nothing like that you do?
13:51No.
13:52No?
13:53Never?
13:54When dealing with border officials, honesty really is the best course of action.
13:59I have tried marijuana, I think.
14:03Marijuana?
14:03Nothing stronger than marijuana before?
14:04No, no, no, no, no.
14:05OK.
14:06How long ago would you try your marijuana?
14:12Well, I use it to sleep.
14:14Regularly?
14:15Yes.
14:16OK.
14:16Have you got any on you?
14:18No.
14:18So it's cannabis oil?
14:25Unlike some other countries, cannabis is still illegal in New Zealand.
14:29So where did you get this from?
14:31In the US.
14:32In the US?
14:33OK.
14:35Do you have any more?
14:37Are you sure?
14:39Because if you have, now would be the time to tell me.
14:41Back in Christchurch, Customs Officer Paresh is talking to a man from Mexico whose bag was
14:55found to contain cannabis oil in a vape.
14:58You're bringing stuff into the country that you're not supposed to have.
15:01If you're trying to get overseas, that's on you, no problems.
15:04But when you bring stuff in, that's when it's a problem.
15:06OK?
15:07Cannabis is a Class C controlled drug in New Zealand, but it can be used medicinally with
15:12a prescription.
15:14Have you got a prescription for this?
15:16No.
15:17No?
15:18Paresh conducts a swab on the vape to confirm whether it's more than just marijuana in the
15:23mix.
15:30Yep.
15:31T-O.
15:31So it's allowed for T-O.
15:32OK?
15:33The passenger may have bought the oil legally overseas, but Customs' concern is whether he
15:39will seek it out illegally here in New Zealand.
15:41Do you have more in your bags?
15:44I've got a cup of coffee.
15:45Have you got any of the oil or stuff?
15:47No.
15:48Just the oil?
15:48Just the.
15:49What happens when you're up?
15:51No.
15:51I don't want to get set up much.
15:54I just need to.
15:55They're your best with you.
15:58Drug detector dog team Hannah and Thor are brought in to inspect the rest of the man's
16:02belongings.
16:03And his friends.
16:08I'm just going to come around here with the dog.
16:10No problem.
16:11Just completely knock him out.
16:12Yeah.
16:12I love her.
16:18But the only thing that's discovered is one of the friend's fear of dogs.
16:22Piresh consults his colleagues to decide what action to take.
16:31Cannabis oil source from the U.S. is not allowed.
16:35Sorry, we're taking that.
16:38I'm just going to issue you later.
16:40Basically what the sattler is is to say your vape has been detained.
16:43You won't be getting it back.
16:45He's got a bit of a scare for what he's done.
16:47He's very sorry.
16:48But that doesn't mean the man is now free to enter the country.
16:51You will be going to immigration.
16:52They'll be having a chat with you, okay?
17:00Hi there.
17:01Hey, have your decoration card, please.
17:03Back at Auckland International Airport, biosecurity officer Rada is processing passengers arriving
17:09to explore, work or live in New Zealand.
17:12You got some plant products and some other stuff?
17:15Okay.
17:16Put it in here.
17:18This family are returning home from a visit to Ghana.
17:21They've done the right thing, declaring their risk items.
17:28There's the usual snacks and spices.
17:31All the powdery spices are problem.
17:33This one is good seasoning.
17:35That's good.
17:36Oh, beauty products.
17:38Share butter.
17:39Oh, okay.
17:40Body butter.
17:41That's for the moisturiser.
17:43They're enough for the whole year until you go back.
17:47What's in there?
17:50Tin fish.
17:51Tin fish, okay.
17:52There's a lot of familiar favourites.
17:54Sardines.
17:55Okay, that's good.
17:56Everyone enjoys the taste they grew up with.
17:58Even if it's available here.
18:03Do you have a different taste?
18:04Different taste.
18:05But Rada starts to see more unusual items.
18:09Homegrown plants that aren't food yet.
18:13They're cuttings to start a garden.
18:16These are for plantation?
18:17Plantation?
18:18Yes.
18:19The plants have all been separately packaged and labelled, but that's not the issue.
18:24To import this sort of thing, you first need to apply for the import permit.
18:29It's a bit complex issue.
18:31So you haven't got that permit.
18:33You don't have any paperwork.
18:35I'm very sorry.
18:36We cannot allow.
18:37What if I'm ready to pay for fumigation?
18:41No, there is no fumigation as such about this one.
18:44Fumigation is not an option.
18:46Passengers can't simply bring new species of plants into New Zealand's ecosystem.
18:51This goes on the ground.
18:53So any disease in there, pass into the nearby plants.
18:56So that's the thing.
18:57So in a way that we're trying to protect the agriculture or horticulture industry of the country.
19:03So you live in New Zealand, it's also your duty to protect the country.
19:07The local garden centre is the place to go to start a veggie patch.
19:12So welcome home.
19:14That's what I can say.
19:16Sorry about these ones.
19:17And also tell your family and friends if they are coming in not to bring these ones.
19:22It's a bit complex process.
19:24Thank you for understanding.
19:27The passenger may be a bit disappointed, but it's a very good result for MPI.
19:32And also for the general public to know that what do they expect at the border.
19:38The introduction of new plants could devastate New Zealand's agricultural industry.
19:44We're going to dispose of these ones.
19:46All of the plant matter, nuts, seeds and stems were securely destroyed.
19:53At Christchurch International Airport, a traveller from Mexico had his trip put in jeopardy when customs found cannabis oil and a vape in his bag.
20:13Your vape is being detained.
20:15Your vape is being detained.
20:15You won't be getting it back.
20:18However, the man is still not clear to be landed in Aotearoa.
20:22He must be interviewed by immigration officer Jess to ascertain whether he poses any further risk to New Zealand law.
20:28The main reason you've been referred to speak with us today is because customs officers found cannabis oil, as I understand it, within your belongings.
20:41And, yeah, it's just when I use it, it just relaxes me, helps me sleep better.
20:47And that's all there is to it.
20:50Okay.
20:50Did you research what was legal in New Zealand before you travelled here?
20:54I didn't, unfortunately.
20:56Okay.
20:56And did you know it was in your bag?
20:58No.
21:01So you understand that it is not something that is legal to use here in New Zealand?
21:06No, I do.
21:06Yes.
21:07So if you are granted entry today, I need to make sure that you do abide by the conditions and laws of this country.
21:16Do you feel like you would be able to manage this time without needing to buy cannabis?
21:21I will.
21:22All right, that's everything I'm going to ask you for now.
21:24I will have to go out and talk to my colleague for us to make a decision.
21:28And then we'll come out and I'll let you know what the decision is.
21:34Jess discusses her findings with two other immigration officers to decide whether or not to admit the man with his friends.
21:40I believe what he's saying, everything checks out.
21:46He was remorseful.
21:47He didn't check whether it was legal or not illegal.
21:51I'm not concerned he's going to be breaking any laws here.
21:55I don't believe he poses a risk to us in New Zealand.
21:58I'm happy to land him.
22:00I agree.
22:00Low risk.
22:02Let's get the bond our way.
22:03Awesome.
22:04Thank you, Ben.
22:06So we've made the decision today that we are going to allow you entry to New Zealand.
22:10Just warning again, cannabis is not okay in New Zealand.
22:15You've made a mistake.
22:17Okay, and we would allow you to, like you to come in and enjoy your holiday.
22:21No, except that, so grab your, grab your items and we'll take you through.
22:25The four amigos are reunited again and can continue with their trip down under on the right side of New Zealand.
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