From 2am to 4am, the quiet rural town of Murupara hums with activity.

“Some nights you hear more traffic here than you would in the city,” says Murupara officer in charge Senior Sergeant Graeme Hill. “People are getting [meth], going into town [Rotorua, Taupō or Whakatāne] to get it, or they’re finding people who want it.”

This nocturnal buzz is a symptom of a national drugs crisis.

Methamphetamine consumption has nearly doubled, skyrocketing from 732kg in 2023 to 1434kg in 2024, peaking at 39.3kg per week – the highest level ever recorded. Wastewater testing shows use has surged in almost every region, especially in Northland, Eastern District and Central.

The Drug Harm Index estimates meth causes more than $1.66 billion in annual social harm. For frontline police, the damage can’t be fully measured in dollars.

‘Disengaging to stay safe’

In towns such as Murupara, where deprivation and gang activity are entrenched, cheaper and more accessible meth has fuelled a rise in crime and an increasingly hostile environment that is stretching police thin.

It now dictates how they respond to everything from family harm to traffic stops. 

“When you're dealing with somebody on meth, there's no reasoning with them,” Graeme says. “Staff are being put at undue risk even at what would normally be minor matters.

“[With meth, people] can go from co-operative to absolutely psychotic in seconds. Sometimes, you have to disengage and come again later. It’s almost like self-preservation.”

Graeme says his officers have become adept at working alone, far from back-up, in high-risk situations. “We have to be… most rural cops are dealing with this stuff every day.

“It’s not just a big city issue. Meth’s everywhere now.”

Double meth, double danger

The risks continue in custody suites. “It’s custody staff who have to often deal with that detox phase,” says Cherie Lang, a senior adviser with the Policeled Resilience to Organised Crime in Communities (ROCC) programme. “That’s just as dangerous, if not more. [Detainees on meth] can be at their most volatile then, they don’t want to be there.”

Graeme says there has been a rise in violent episodes in custody. “Local staff have had four in the past 12 months alone – wrestling offenders who are high, ending up in hands-on confrontations or having to use tactical options.”

Detective Superintendent Greg Williams, head of Police’s National Organised Crime Group, puts it bluntly: “Gangs are making double the money. Police are facing double the meth in the streets. It’s that simple – and that dangerous.”

A crisis few saw coming

Even scientists tracking the spread of drugs were surprised by how quickly meth use escalated last year. Senior ESR scientist Andrew Chappell recently told 1News that meth levels had been steady for years but then suddenly exploded.

“In July and August, there was a big spike from out of nowhere,” he says.

Consumption doubled across all districts almost overnight. In 2019, meth consumption averaged 15kg per week. By late 2024, it was 36kg. 

Northland still holds the “ice crystal crown” for the highest consumption of meth. Testing showed a leap from 326g a week early last year to 1117g by year’s end.

However, the surge can also be seen further south. Waipukurau recorded a 333% rise in meth use from 2023 to 2024. Other notable increases include South Auckland (98%), Levin (90%), Tokoroa (61%) and Huntly (41%).

A Police source says the national average of around 30kg of meth consumption a week has continued into the first quarter of 2025. And this is despite record seizures at the border.

High supply, rock bottom price

In 2024, Customs intercepted an average of 90kg of meth each week – eclipsing the entire annual total of 55kg a decade earlier. Yet it barely dents the market.

“There’s just so much availability,” says Detective Inspector Tim Chao, former head of the National Drug Intelligence Bureau (NDIB).

Meth gets into the country many ways: sea freight, imported vehicles, mail and even arrangements through social media – “take your pick”, Tim says.

And, with over-saturation comes price drops, from $560 a gram in 2017 to just $360 in 2024.

John O’Keeffe is Police’s manager partnerships and harm prevention, which covers both the ROCC programme the Transnational Organised Crime Strategy. He recently spoke with 20 long-time meth users at a treatment facility – including a Comanchero gang member – and learnt that with prices down, dealers rely even more on recruiting new users to maintain profits.

“Those already on meth use 4, 5, even 6 grams* a day,” John says. “They’re not doubling their consumption. Much more than 8g* and you’re non-functional. You’re either falling off buildings or ending up in emergency departments.

“No, this is a business. It’s predatory,” John says. “Dealers know they need new users to sustain profit. Some even send people out on benefit day to target those who’ve just been paid.”

Long-time meth users also report a drop in purity – another ploy to increase sales. “They said the meth on the street is the weakest they’ve ever seen.”

Most said their “ride on the meth train” began with cannabis or alcohol, only to be upsold meth by someone they knew. One student said a friend gave her meth to help her stay awake to study. Eight years later, she was still using.

Despite meth’s growing reach, John is baffled by the lack of public prevention campaigns.

“We’ve got campaigns for everything – fizzy drinks, seatbelts, smoking – but nothing for meth. Everyone in that treatment room said: ‘If I knew then what I know now, I would never have touched it’.”

Pains and gains

ROCC planning and programme support manager Hannah O’Leary says prevention is the missing piece. “People don’t hear about the wide-reaching implications, broken relationships, job losses, health issues. Because people don’t talk about the dark side of it, people just don’t know.”

While enforcement remains key, real change has come through holistic support. One standout moment was Operation Highwater targeting an Ōpōtiki-based gang, which led to 28 arrests and the seizure of illegal drugs and several firearms as well as restrained assets worth $800,000.

ROCC then supported iwi and local providers to ensure they the necessary tools to assist impacted whanau: health checks, school enrolments, family support. Meth use halved in the area for the next three months.

Graeme says it’s clear enforcement alone can’t solve the problem. One of the biggest misconceptions is that police can arrest their way out of the meth crisis, he says. “We can’t. Not without proper mental health and addiction support behind us… We need long-term solutions that stay in the community.”

ROCC is designed to do just that: “community led, regionally supported and nationally enabled”. Instead of parachuting in solutions, ROCC builds infrastructure, relationships and systems that stay behind when enforcement teams leave (read more on ROCC here).

Holding the line

Graeme cannot overstate how big a part meth is playing in his community. Small towns like Minginui, Kaingaroa, Ruatahuna are nothing like they were even a few years ago.

And meth reshaped all of policing, too.

“It’s probably outstripped cannabis now as the drug of choice. And that means the people you’re dealing with are often aggressive, combative, argumentative and paranoid. Most rural cops are dealing with this stuff every day. They have to be more resourceful in how they work.”

Temporary reinforcements help – and are greatly appreciated, Graeme says – but they’re not the solution.

“When they leave, we still have to work with the community”.

“It’s different policing. As someone told me today, ‘You learn to be way more flexible in getting hurt out here'."

*These figures were incorrectly quoted as being in milligrams instead of grams in the printed edition of Police News.