FILE PHOTO: In this photo released by the US Embassy in Wellington, New Zealand, FBI Director Kash Patel cuts the ribbon at the official opening of the FBI office in Wellington, New Zealand, July 31, 2025. - AP
WELLINGTON: On a visit to New Zealand, FBI Director Kash Patel gave the country’s police and spy bosses gifts of inoperable pistols that were illegal to possess under local gun laws and had to be destroyed, New Zealand law enforcement agencies told The Associated Press.
The plastic 3D-printed replica pistols formed part of display stands Patel presented to at least three senior New Zealand security officials in July. Patel, the most senior Trump administration official to visit the country so far, was in Wellington to open the FBI’s first standalone office in New Zealand.
