Thames resident sentenced to over three years for importing GBL and 3D-printing Glock pistols
Ben Driver was jailed for three years and three months after authorities uncovered his import of 12 kg of GBL and the 3D-printed manufacture of three Glock-style firearms.
New Zealand Customs flagged a package of GBL hidden in a liquid eyelash-remover bottle that had been ordered by Ben Driver and delivered to his Thames address. Subsequent investigations revealed 44 comparable shipments between April 2024 and February 2025, totaling just over 12 kg of the substance. Police searching Driver’s property in May 2024 uncovered a 3D-printing device producing a firearms suppressor, completed components for three Glock-style pistols, a fully assembled pistol and.22 rounds, along with a small amount of methamphetamine.
Driver admitted importing GBL for personal and associate use and acknowledged meth use, but claimed the printer was supplied by another party. At sentencing in Hamilton District Court, Judge Arthur Tompkins rejected the defence’s request for home detention, citing the scale of drug importation and the public-safety risk of 3D-printed weapons, and handed down a three-year-three-month prison term, reduced by nine months for guilty pleas.
Why it matters
The case highlights the growing threat of 3D-printed firearms and illicit drug importation to community safety.
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