Wanaka police decided not to charge a local person who mail-ordered the illegal party drug mephedrone from overseas, after New Zealand Customs officials intercepted a Wanaka-bound package of the drug last month.
Wanaka CIB Detective Dave Evans said Customs officials had alerted police when a 10g package of mephedrone, posted from the United Kingdom, was seized on the way to a Wanaka address.
A person at the Wanaka address where the illegal party drug was destined had been spoken to by police as part of an official inquiry.
Police had decided not to lay charges against the person "in this instance", Det Evans said.
He warned the decision was not "in any way" indicative of how future cases would be dealt with.
Mephedrone is classified as a class C illegal drug in New Zealand and the importation of such a classified and illegal substance was viewed as a "very serious offence" by police, Det Evans said.
"Clearly, if we find someone in possession of class C drugs they're in very serious trouble.
"The issue here is one of drugs crossing borders," he said.
Det Evans would not discuss why charges were not laid in relation to the Customs seizure of the Wanaka-destined mephedrone.
Mephedrone is used as a substitute for the drug ecstasy and has been linked to several deaths in the UK and one in Sweden.
The drug comes in a powdered form and is often sold as plant food, although it has no such use.
Dunedin and Wanaka have accounted for more than a third of all mephedrone intercepted at the International Mail Centre in Auckland.
Mephedrone was not viewed by Wanaka police as a "huge" issue, Det Evans said.
Police wanted to educate people about the effect of bringing the drug to New Zealand.
The drug was readily available for order from websites, which were ambiguous about mephedrone's illegal status in New Zealand.
Internet "pop-up" advertisements for the "UK's top-selling legal party drug" pushed amessage, Det Evans said.
"It's certainly not a Wanaka issue.
"No town is immune from drugs.
"If you've got a computer you can get [mephedrone]," he said.
Police and Customs had a close relationship and shared information daily.
The chances of getting drugs through were "very slim", especially given recent media exposure about mephedrone.
"You have to be pretty naive to buy now, thinking it is legit," Det Evans said.
The package of mephedrone seized by Customs on March 8 and destined for Wanaka had an estimated street value of $200.
