Hunt for WMDs hits Hauraki Gulf

Weapons of mass destruction are on the hit list for New Zealand Customs and the military today as ships from several nations patrol the Hauraki Gulf.

The ships and air force aircraft will be part of an international exercise involving several countries which will test New Zealand's ability to find and stop a shipment of material used to make the weapons.

Exercise Maru, which begins today and lasts until Friday, was being led by the New Zealand Customs Service and involved the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the New Zealand Defence Force, several other domestic agencies and the Ports of Auckland.

The Australian navy patrol boat HMAS Maryborough and the French navy patrol boat FNS La Glorieuse, were also in Auckland for the exercise which would include ship-boarding and the searching of vessels and containers.

"The exercise will have a strong law enforcement focus on preventing the proliferation of WMD-related materials across our borders, including examining the legal issues which arise after a WMD item has been intercepted," said Robert Lake, New Zealand Customs Service Deputy Comptroller of Operations.

He said it was an example of New Zealand's strong commitment to the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) - an international initiative to stop illegal shipments of weapons of mass destruction.

Customs Minister Nanaia Mahuta said the exercise was aimed at stropping the shipment of technology and materials used to build weapons of mass destruction, and not about halting the transport of a one-piece weapon.

She said the weapons were built with an array of components that may have "perfectly peaceful, legitimate, everyday uses as well as weapons applications.

"Chemicals used as cleaning agents could be used in weapons production and medical products could be used in the production of agents for biological weapons," she said.

She said New Zealand could be used by weapons traffickers as a staging point for materials used to make weapons of mass destruction.

 - NZPA