Cocaine allegations: NZDF confirms soldiers on offshore deployment under investigation by military police
New Zealand’s proud history of international peacekeeping has taken a knock after allegations of cocaine use by soldiers. Now, military police are investigating, David Fisher reports.
Three soldiers are facing questions over cocaine use during the final weeks of their time on one of New Zealand’s most important overseas deployments, the Herald understands.
When asked by the Herald whether “multiple NZDF personnel ... returned to NZ following allegations involving cocaine”, the New Zealand Defence Force would not confirm details.
Instead, it said in a statement, “The New Zealand Defence Force is investigating an alleged disciplinary matter on one of our operational deployments. As this matter is under investigation, the NZDF has no further comment to make.”
Herald questions included how many soldiers were involved in the alleged incident, whether it occurred in Sinai, what teams the soldiers were in, whether charges had been laid, or were being considered, and whether a wider review would be carried out.
After the Herald complained to the Ombudsman, the NZDF said the reason it was not willing to release further information was that it would “prejudice the maintenance of the law”.
“The New Zealand Defence Force Military Police are currently investigating this matter.”
The Herald has been told by multiple sources that the soldiers were part of the NZDF’s long-running deployment to the peacekeeping mission in Sinai, the peninsula between Israel and Egypt.
It is understood the alleged incident came towards the end of their six-month deployment.
The Herald has chosen not to identify the roles and ranks of the soldiers who are said to be the focus of the investigation, nor when the incident allegedly occurred.
Defence Minister Chris Penk confirmed he had “been briefed on an alleged disciplinary matter relating to an operational deployment”.
“As the matter is currently under investigation by the New Zealand Defence Force, I am unable to provide comment.”
NZDF inquiries are focusing on personnel contact with the party scene at Sharm El Sheikh on the Red Sea, the Herald understands.
The Sinai deployment has been a recurring obligation for New Zealand, with our military sending teams of 30 people there on six-month rotations. They join about 1200 men and women from as many as 13 countries to monitor the 1979 peace agreement between Egypt and Israel.
For years, those deployed were based on the border of the two countries, but security issues in 2016 led to the peacekeeping force moving to “South Camp” near the tourist drawcard of Sharm el Sheikh.
The Herald has been told that proximity to the resort town brought NZDF personnel into contact with a vibrant nightlife where cocaine was allegedly available.
It’s not the first time the Sinai deployment has raised questions about the behaviour of NZ military personnel.
In 2023, the Herald reported the outcome of a Court of Inquiry into a Sinai deployment that was marked by excessive drinking and sexual assault complaints.
The focus of the inquiry was the behaviour of Lieutenant Colonel Justin Putze, the officer in command of two deployments over the course of a year.
Putze was court-martialled and found guilty of four charges after the 2017 deployment. He was demoted to major and left NZDF of his own volition in 2020.
The Court of Inquiry was highly critical of Putze’s leadership during his time commanding two groups of 30 personnel, sent for six months each.
It revealed stories of excessive drinking, a strip club visit and partying at Sharm el Sheikh.
Of the 60 people sent to the Sinai over those two shifts, there were allegations of sexual assault by as many as three women and one man.
David Fisher is based in Northland and has worked as a journalist for more than 30 years, winning multiple journalism awards including being twice named Reporter of the Year and being selected as one of a small number of Wolfson Press Fellows to Wolfson College, Cambridge. He joined the Herald in 2004.
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