One of New Zealand’s most prolific sellers of illegal drugs on the dark web has been arrested, police say.
A “concoction of drugs” alongside $55,000 in cash was seized during a search warrant at a rural property in north Auckland.
A 35-year-old man and a 32-year-old woman were arrested, police said.
The search was part of Operation Lava, which is aimed at putting pressure on drug importers and suppliers operating on the dark web.
Detective Senior Sergeant Reece Sirl said police will allege an account was used to carry out around 2,800 individual drug transactions between June 2025 and March 2026.
“We estimate the value of these transactions over nine-months is around $1.2 million,” sergeant Sirl said.
“These transactions involved around 13 different types of drugs, including methamphetamine, cocaine, MDMA, GBL and ketamine.”
The man and woman are due to appeared before the North Shore District Court on a “significant number of charges” including the sale and supply of class A, B and C controlled drugs.
Further charges have not been ruled out and investigations are ongoing.
