In 2018, as part of Operation Nova, police detectives from the National Organised Crime Group covertly filmed a drug deal involving the Comancheros motorcycle gang. Video / Mike Scott
An influential leader of a notorious motorcycle gang has been deported to Australia after finishing his prison time for money laundering and organised crime offences.
Jarome Raymond Fonua, 29, was the secretary of the Comancheros gang, which grabbed a foothold in New Zealandin 2018 when senior members were deported from Australia on “good character” grounds.
One of the founding members of the New Zealand chapter, Fonua was arrested following Operation Nova, a covert investigation into the criminal activities of the Comanchero hierarchy.
As the club secretary, Fonua was responsible for handling the finances. There was a lot of money floating around, too: a lifestyle of long lunches, gold bling, fancy cars and designer clothes.
He pleaded guilty to participating in an organised criminal group, possession of a small amount of methamphetamine, as well as money laundering offences, including the purchase of a $239,000 Range Rover.
Standing in the dock of the High Court dressed in a Versace shirt, Fonua was sentenced to four years and seven months in prison.
“The fact that you were the secretary of the Comancheros organisation means you were obviously a senior and trusted member of the inner circle, responsible for the governance of the organisation and, more importantly for present purposes, the activities that generated the cash through … drug dealing,” Justice Graham Lang said.
Fonua served nearly all of the sentence and was released from prison on Wednesday, the Parole Board confirmed to the Herald.
Unlike many other Comanchero members and associates in New Zealand, Fonua was not removed from Australia as a “501″ deportee.
He is an Australian citizen, born and bred, who voluntarily moved to Auckland to be closer to his partner’s family in 2017.
Fonua was immediately deported to Queensland, where his parents live, on his Wednesday release.
He was escorted by police at the request of the airline, said Bernard Maritz, the compliance manager for Immigration NZ.
“Being an Australian national, Fonua was originally granted residence on arrival in New Zealand. It was subsequently discovered that he had not declared previous criminal convictions in Australia, therefore making him ineligible to hold a residence visa for New Zealand.
“Further, Fonua was subsequently convicted of crimes committed in Aotearoa New Zealand and is being deported today, the earliest available time, after the completion of his prison sentence.”
Among his offending committed in Australia, Fonua failed to tell New Zealand authorities he had been convicted of robbery in 2014 and sentenced to three years in prison.
Once in New Zealand, Fonua was also convicted of “sustained loss of traction” while operating a motor vehicle (he was doing a burnout on a gold-plated Harley-Davidson motorcycle) in Mt Maunganui.
These were the grounds on which Immigration NZ wanted to deport him in 2020, prior to his Operation Nova convictions.
Fonua appealed the deportation notice on humanitarian grounds because of a personal tragedy suffered while in New Zealand.
But the Immigration and Protection Tribunal ruled in 2020 there were no “exceptional circumstances” to Fonua’s case, and he must return to Australia.
The Comancheros posted this photograph on Instagram in 2018 to announce the New Zealand chapter. Jarome Fonua is sitting on the motorcycle on the left. Photo / Supplied.
Fonua is one of the few criminals forced to fly back across the Tasman compared to the thousands controversially deported in recent years from Australia as so-called “501s”; nicknamed after the section of immigration law used to remove people on “good character” grounds.
Among this number was a smaller group of senior outlaw motorcycle club members, who then established chapters of their Australian gangs in New Zealand.
This has led to a radical shift within the criminal underworld, with far larger importations of methamphetamine and cocaine, as well as violent conflict between gangs such as tit-for-tat shootings and arson.
A stretched police force has been forced to dedicate significant resources to investigating these crimes, and gangs were also a topic of debate during the recent election.
After being slow to react, the previous Labour government passed legislation to give police new powers during gang conflict and target unexplained wealth of gang leaders.
The new National-led coalition Government has promised to crack down even harder with anti-gang laws, such as patch bans, within the first 100 days of taking office.
Jared Savage is an award-winning journalist who covers crime and justice issues, with a particular interest in organised crime. He joined the Herald in 2006, and is the author of Gangland and Gangster’s Paradise.
