A small boat believed to be involved in a transnational organized crime syndicate has disappeared at sea about 50km north-east of Kerikeri in Northland

Police, the Royal New Zealand Air Force and ships in the area are trying to locate the boat, described as a 3.5-metre rowboat with two people on board.

Detective Superintendent Greg Williams, director of the National Organized Crime Group, said police were investigating the boat as part of a drug importation and organized crime investigation codenamed Operation Fantail.

The operation targeted a transnational organized crime group believed to have facilitated the importation of 700kg of methamphetamine by sea into New Zealand.

“The investigation revealed two unsuccessful attempts on successive days by two separate shore parties to rendezvous with a small boat off the Northland coast.