15 Jul 2004

NZ authorities find Tongan overstayer hiding in fridge

10:26 am on 15 July 2004

A Tongan overstayer has been arrested after New Zealand immigration staff and police found him hiding inside a refrigerator at an Auckland house.

Immigration officers, who were acting on a tip off, became suspicious because the floor of the kitchen was covered in food.

The man was a member of a touring Tongan rugby team, some of whom overstayed last year.

Four men have now been found, but ten are still in hiding.