Nigel Iuvale sat in a High Court at Auckland dock this afternoon next to co-defendant Tungane Manuel – one of the airport employees with an otherwise clean record who was lured into the illicit scheme. Both men were found guilty of various drug trafficking charges after a jury trial in June and July.
Tungane was today sentenced to 11 years and six months in prison.
“The damage to New Zealand’s reputation is aggravating,” Justice Michele Wilkinson-Smith said as she determined the prison terms, telling Iuvale that she had sentenced “a parade of men” in recent days who had also been corrupted into the scheme.
“I have not enjoyed that experience,” she said. “That corruption ... can be laid in part at your door.”
Authorities alleged Iuvale was the kingpin of a syndicate that was at first spectacularly successful, with estimates that he arranged and oversaw the importation of hundreds of kilograms of meth in 2021 and had plans afoot to import hundreds of kilos more.
Such amounts would have had a street value in the tens of millions of dollars.
Nigel Iuvale has been jailed for his role in smuggling hundreds of kilograms of meth with the help of Auckland Airport baggage handlers. Photo / Jason Oxenham
Numerous airport employees pleaded guilty to the scheme, which involved diverting bags from incoming flights from Los Angeles and Malaysia before baggage went through Customs screening areas. Given all the guilty pleas, jurors at Iuvale’s trial were told, they could consider the importation scheme to be a proven fact. The main question they were tasked with answering is whether Iuvale and co-defendant Tungane Manuel were involved in the scheme.
Both Iuvale and Manuel adamantly insisted through lawyers that they were not, with Iuvale’s lawyer suggesting the actual culprit might have been his twin brother. But jurors felt otherwise.
The pair were found guilty of conspiracy to import methamphetamine. In addition, Manuel was found guilty on two charges of importing a little over 100kg of meth on two occasions in June and July 2021, while Iuvale was found guilty of possessing methamphetamine for supply.
Both men faced sentences of up to life imprisonment.
Iuvale was also sentenced today for a separate possession of methamphetamine for supply charge – this one involving an importation scheme at Ports of Auckland – after being found guilty by a separate jury at the Auckland District Court. Jurors in the High Court were told about that conviction, with prosecutors suggesting it showed a pattern for the defendant.
Former airport employee Tungane Manuel (right) appears in the High Court at Auckland at the start of the Operation Selena methamphetamine importation trial. Photo / Jason Oxenham
Justice Wilkinson-Smith said today that she couldn’t say with certainty Iuvale was the “kingpin” of the airport scheme as prosecutors alleged because there was evidence other people may have been above him. But of all those arrested for the scheme, he was the highest-ranking defendant, she said.
“You were very much a major player in significant commercial drug dealing,” she said. “It is apparent to me you are a very intelligent man, Mr Iuvale. You could have offered a lot more to society.”
Crown prosecutor Taniela-Afu Veikune sought a sentence starting point for Iuvale of 25 years, with a stipulation that he be forced to serve at least half of whatever his end sentence is before he could apply for parole.
Defence lawyer Marie Taylor-Cyphers sought a starting point of 19.5 years before applying discounts for Iuvale’s difficult upbringing, his former addictions to meth, steroids and cocaine, the impact a prison sentence would have on his young children and for his health problems. He currently receives two injections a week to stem the growth of a macroprolactinoma – a small, static brain tumour. It is believed the tumour will shorten his life but doctors don’t know to what extent, the defence lawyer said.
Taylor-Cyphers also sought a discount for previous good character, noting her client had no previous criminal convictions. But the judge rejected that suggestion, saying membership in a gang would be incongruous with such a discount.
The judge settled on a starting point of 23 years, allowing some discounts for his background, health and for his children. However, she noted that his offending appeared to be motivated by greed rather than addiction and that he is considered to have a high risk of reoffending. She approved the Crown’s request for a 50% minimum term of imprisonment, meaning it will be nine years before Iuvale can begin applying for parole.
The judge declined a minimum term for Manuel, citing his lesser role.
“However, your role was critical,” she told the defendant, explaining that without his involvement the syndicate wouldn’t have had access to the Malaysia Airlines flights.
Six other people were sentenced this week for their part in the offending. They are:
Sitaleki Maka, who stored large amounts of cash at his house, 12 months home detention
Sanlolan Piukana, Maka’s wife, 12 months home detention
Tokofa Paulo Toroma, a baggage handler, three years imprisonment
Mairiau Sailor PapatauturuSamson, a baggage handler, two years and four months imprisonment
Martin Julian Pritchard, a baggage handler, 12 years and six months imprisonment
Rhys Alefa Tualevao, baggage handler, six years and six months imprisonment
Another man, accused of having been the second in command under Iuvale, is set for sentencing in February. His name is currently suppressed.
Craig Kapitan is an Auckland-based journalist covering courts and justice. He joined the Herald in 2021 and has reported on courts since 2002 in three newsrooms in the US and New Zealand.
Sign up to The Daily H, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
