An airport x-ray machine alerted staff about suspicious wiring in the parcel from China on Tuesday and it was placed in an explosives safe overnight.

Emergency services were only notified the next morning when they decided to evacuate the mail centre near Auckland airport.

The parcel was later identified as a sex aid, the New Zealand Herald reported.

The incident has prompted a Customs investigation into why emergency services were not immediately contacted, leaving a potential bomb in a safe overnight.

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