A 20-year-old Belgian man was stopped by New Zealand Customs
at Queenstown Airport and involved in an ''immigration
turnaround'' due to his alleged illegal drug habit.
The passenger was referred to Immigration New Zealand when,
during a NZ Customs search of his bag, he admitted regular
drug use, a Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
spokeswoman told the Otago Daily Times yesterday.
Queenstown police logged the incident as occurring on
Saturday at 12.30pm.
Information provided by the passenger during a subsequent
interview with Immigration NZ indicated he was ''likely to
commit an offence'' in New Zealand punishable by
imprisonment.
The passenger was therefore denied entry to New Zealand under
section 16 of the Immigration Act, the spokeswoman said.
The Belgian was detained in Queenstown police station
overnight and was sent back on a commercial passenger
aircraft to Sydney.
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