A Russian man with no explanation for why he had two passports, 64 credit cards, 100 SIM cards and six mobile phones was one of the thousands turned away from New Zealand's border last year.
A new report from Immigration New Zealand says nearly 6 million people visited the country in the 2015/2016 financial year, of which 1371 were refused entry.
Other strange stories of rejection at the border include a German man landing in Wellington with an apple, tea leaf-type material, medicinal honey, spices, and a live earwig.
A Brazilian national was refused entry when she landed in New Zealand with no outward ticket, and when questioned, said she wanted to see the Lord of the Rings locations and knew that Harry Potter was the main character in the film.
A Taiwanese woman was denied when she landed, claiming to have Kiwi cosmetics business contacts. It turned out to be a "rubbish excuse", Immigration says, as the address she provided was a refuse transfer station in south Auckland.
In another case, 19 Taiwanese people were stopped at the border when they were caught with mobile devices, IT cables, remote controls, SIM card adaptors and bolt cutters in their luggage.
Immigration found they were likely to be trying to start a 'boiler room' in New Zealand - setting up an outbound call centre selling bogus investments by telephone.
"The increasing passenger volumes and international environment will continue to challenge us all to be increasingly innovative and connected to ensure the most effective border processes possible into the future," Immigration's border manager Senta Jehle says.
Newshub.
