Mother, son sentenced for attempting to illegally export pounamu
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The pair will be sentenced in the District Court at Manukau.
Photo: RNZ / Liu Chen
A mother and son will be sentenced in Auckland after being found guilty of attempting to illegally export pounamu to China.
In the first successful prosecution of its kind by New Zealand Customs, Boyuan Zhang and his mother Xin Li were found carrying almost 18 kilograms of the stone in their luggage at Auckland Airport in 2024.
It is illegal to take more than five kilograms of the raw stone out of the country without consent.
Descendants of South Island iwi Ngai Tahu said the verdict at the trial in March served as a warning that anyone who attempted to export pounamu without permission could and would be prosecuted.
The pair will be sentenced in the District Court at Manukau on Friday morning.
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