Newshub's Patrick Gower has revealed a "frightening" moment during his new documentary into New Zealand's methamphetamine crisis when he spoke to a Mexican drug lord.
Gower spoke to The AM Show about his deep dive into New Zealand's methamphetamine crisis for Patrick Gower: On P which airs Tuesday at 8:30pm on Three.
"I think everyone knows we have a problem with P," Gower said.
"I've known that for many years, covering it in all sorts of ways throughout my career but tonight's documentary is about actually throwing it wide open so that all of Aotearoa/New Zealand can see how bad this problem is.
"This stuff is flooding into the country from Mexico, from Asia, from wherever they can make it, it is coming in here every which way every day."
Gower said one particular interview stood out to him - a Skype interview he did with a Mexican drug lord who was smuggling the drug into New Zealand.
He said during the call the person was seen packing the drugs into 1kg bags worth NZ$400,000 - $500,000 and was talking about how much money they will make him in our country.
"How frightening is that - that the Mexican cartels who people think they know off Netflix are willing to talk to a New Zealand journalist by Skype, so brazenly, about the huge amounts of methamphetamine."
He said the way they were so willing to chat openly, it was like they were a pop star or movie star promoting a movie.
The documentary is aiming to raise awareness about the meth industry in New Zealand and was inspired by people who revealed to Gower that meth is often easier to access than cannabis.
Despite trying cannabis in his previous documentary On Weed, Gower said he would never try methamphetamine.
"It is a completely different drug, it is evil, it has no redeeming features. I would never ever use it and I don't use it and I hope that nobody ever does after watching this documentary."
He told The AM Show the documentary is dedicated to a woman he's known his whole life whose son battled addiction.
"We have wonderful parents in New Zealand - like this mum - who always stand by their kids no matter what and with a P addiction, sometimes they would wish that their child was dead or they were dead themselves.
"This documentary is for that mum and for all the mums and dads out there who have children with addiction and it has changed my view on addiction. I used to think that people were weak and they should just give up. I don't anymore. Addiction is a disease of the brain and we need to look at it that way."
