Customs seizes 150kg of cocaine at Port of Tauranga
Cocaine worth an estimated $58.2 million has been found at the Port of Tauranga in a shipping container from Jamaica.
Customs officers based at the port seized an estimated 150kg of the Class A drug from a container destined for New Zealand.
The container, which arrived from Kingston, Jamaica, was
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RNZ News
6 hours ago
- RNZ News
One flown to hospital in serious condition following Southbridge incident
Photo: A person has been flown to hospital in a serious condition after an incident in Southbridge, south of Christchurch, on Wednesday evening. Emergency services were called to the scene on Hastings Street just before 8.30pm. A Hato Hone St John spokesperson said an ambulance and first response unit responded, and one patient was flown to Christchurch hospital by helicopter. Police have been approached for comment. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Scoop
7 hours ago
- Scoop
Opposition Reacts To Shoplifting Crackdown As Retailers Celebrate Overdue Changes
But retailers say the changes are overdue, with those caught stealing lower-value goods facing fines up to $500 under the proposed law. Finn Blackwell, Reporter Retailers say the government's crackdown on shoplifters is overdue, despite the opposition blasting the law as confused. Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith announced instant fines and tougher sentences for shoplifting offences. It's the latest in a slew of changes to the justice system, this time an instant ticket of up to a $1000 for those caught shoplifting. Under the proposed law, shoplifters caught stealing lower-value goods could be stung for up to $500. The maximum punishment for theft would go up to a year in prison for goods worth $2000 or less, or seven years for more serious cases. On Auckland's Queen Street, Queens Arcade property manager Ian Wright said it was a positive change. 'These recent initiatives that the government's bringing in are what we've been asking for for a long time, and certainly was missing in the last regime,' he said. 'It's exciting, it's all about holding people to account, and this is just another step in the right direction.' He had seen his share of crime in the area. 'There are these recidivist offenders, and I think some of these new initiatives are really going to make the difference where, if you can clamp down on those are remove those from our communities, it's going to make the whole place a lot safer and the crime will drop.' Labour Justice spokesperson Duncan Webb was unconvinced. 'I just think it's hotchpotch and confused,' he said. 'I just don't think it's effective. It's making noises and saying 'we're doing something' when, in fact, you've still got to have the police to attend and enforce, we're not seeing that.' Webb thought the government was posturing. 'They're sort of lording it as 'oh, we're going to get tougher on shoplifters,' in fact, between one and two thousand dollar offences, the penalty is going down,' he said. 'That's what I mean, it's confused.' Webb said under the new regime, the government had taken what was three bands of offending and turned it into two. 'In doing that, the band between $1000-$2000, which currently is seven years imprisonment maximum, now becomes one year imprisonment maximum.' He said resourcing the police force was vital. 'We need more cops on the street, but also better resourced cops,' Webb said. 'It's no good them sitting at their desks, doing emails and filling forms, they've got to be freed up from that so that they can actually do frontline police work.' Police faced a backlash earlier this year after RNZ revealed an internal memo suggesting lower-level retail crime – like shoplifting – would not be investigated. The new regime added an aggravating factor for high-value theft carried out in an 'offensive, threatening, insulting, or disorderly' manner. Sandringham Business Association chair Jithin Chittibomma said the fines would make offenders think twice. 'Yes, surely there will be people that don't care,' he said. 'But I'm sure there will be people that do care about their future, and even if it is a 10, 20 percent reduction, I'll take that too.' Legislation for the new infringement regime was expected to be introduced in the next few months.
RNZ News
7 hours ago
- RNZ News
What we know about Scattered Spider, the hacker group targeting airlines
By Annika Burgess , ABC Photo: AFP Alarm bells were being sounded that Scattered Spider, a notoriously aggressive and prolific hacking group, had a new favourite target - the airline sector. The FBI and tech companies Google and Palo Alto Networks put out alerts over the weekend. They warned of multiple incidents in the airline and travel industry that resembled the group's operations. Now, it is believed Australia might have fallen victim to the cybercriminals. Qantas has announced that 6 million customer accounts had been exposed in a "significant" cyber attack. The airline would not confirm if it was the target of Scattered Spider, but experts said the attack appeared to have its signature moves. Scattered Spider, or UNC3944, is a loose-knit but aggressive hacking group. The "scattered" gang of affiliates goes by various names and aliases, such as Octo Tempest, Star Fraud, Scatter Swine and Muddled Libra. The members are believed to be mainly young native English speakers from the US and the UK. Some have reportedly been as young as 16 years old. Since emerging in 2022, together the gangs have been accused of breaking into and stealing data from some of the world's largest companies. They are alleged to be behind more than 100 targeted attacks across industries including telecommunications, finance, retail and gaming. Photo: 123RF The group goes from sector to sector, often targeting sectors that face significant customer pressure. And they aim for the big fish. In 2023, hackers tied to Scattered Spider broke into gaming companies , MGM Resorts and Caesars Entertainment, partially paralysing casinos and knocking slot machines out of commission. The $US14 billion gaming giant MGM Resorts operates over 30 hotels and casinos around the world, including in Macau and Las Vegas. The group has also caused mayhem across the UK , hitting some of the largest retail brands, including Harrods, Co-Op and Marks & Spencer (M&S). A recent cyber attack on M&S disrupted the company's online business for weeks. It has resulted in about £300 million in lost operating profit. Scattered Spider is known to use tactics such as social engineering, where hackers trick people into letting them into systems. They essentially target human vulnerabilities. The chief executive of M&S confirmed that "threat actors" had gained access to the retailer's systems via one of its contractors using social engineering techniques. The group typically exploits an organisation's IT helpdesk, using publicly available information to pose as a staff member. David Tuffley, a cybersecurity expert from Griffith University, said the tactics could be "pretty aggressive". "They would know just how to talk in the right way, to get people to do what it is they want them to do," he said. The impersonations could take place through phishing attacks, often fake emails or text messages, or the hackers may even make phone calls directly to the help desk. Daswin De Silva, a professor of AI and analytics and director of AI strategy at La Trobe University, said the tactics were "really manipulative". "Help desks want to resolve issues as quickly as possible," Professor De Silva told the ABC. "With a large organisation that has outsourced some of their business functions, they tend to be removed from the day-to-day operations of the main business. "When there is a disconnect like this … the security can be compromised." Another tactic the group is known to use is called multi-factor authentication (MFA) bombing or MFA fatigue. It involves attackers repeatedly sending MFA requests, such as notifications to a user's device, in an attempt to overwhelm them and trick them into approving a login. This could enable them to gain access to the data warehousing platform or manipulate password resets. Qantas has released a statement saying that it detected unusual activity on Monday on a third-party platform used by a contact centre. The airline said 6 million customers had service records in the platform, and it believed the proportion of stolen data would be "significant". An initial review confirmed the data included some customers' names, email addresses, phone numbers, birth dates and frequent flyer numbers, the airline said. "Importantly, credit card details, personal financial information and passport details are not held in this system," the statement read. "No frequent flyer accounts were compromised, nor have passwords, PIN numbers, or login details been accessed." The breach comes as the FBI has sent out a notification saying it has recently observed Scattered Spider "expanding its targeting to include the airline sector". "They target large corporations and their third-party IT providers, which means anyone in the airline ecosystem, including trusted vendors and contractors, could be at risk," the FBI said in a statement posted on X. "The FBI is actively working with aviation and industry partners to address this activity and assist victims." Alaska Air Group-owned Hawaiian Airlines and Canada's WestJet have both recently reported being struck by unspecified cyber incidents. Qantas said it had notified the Australian Cyber Security Centre and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. A spokesperson for CyberCX told ABC News the incident had all the hallmarks of an attack from the Scattered Spider hacker group. Tuffley said he "wouldn't be too surprised" if the group was behind the attack. "Qantas are actually pretty good as far as cybersecurity goes, but obviously their call centre in the Philippines or wherever it was wasn't quite so good," he said. Previous breaches on major Australian companies, including Medibank and Optus, have highlighted how cyber attacks can see people's data used as a bargaining threat to make companies pay a ransom. Another concern for Qantas customers is that their personal data could be onsold and then used to conduct fraud. Tuffley said that often, data from large-scale breaches would be combined to assemble enough information to impersonate someone. Criminals could then carry out scams such as SIM swapping or financial fraud. "They could contact a telco and say 'Hi, this is Dave, I lost my phone and I want to get a new SIM installed,'" he said. "The telco will go through all sorts of security vetting, but if they've got enough information about you, then they can succeed at that." De Silva said that often after a major breach, there would be a secondary round of attacks based on the data that was stolen. That could involve using the data to ask for password resets or security check-ups. "The attack was first detected on Monday, but customers and the public were informed on Wednesday. This delay translates to more than 48 hours for subsequent targeted/personalised attacks towards individual customers," De Silva said. "The Australian government and relevant authorities must do better in managing the communications, impact and loss following cyber attacks." Qantas customers are being advised to stay vigilant and check accounts and transactions regularly, including frequent flyer accounts. As a general piece of advice, experts say individuals should never reuse passwords on any system or service. - ABC
