Police raided the Comancheros gang in April 2019, seizing millions in cash, a $595,000 Bentley, Range Rover and gold-plated Harley Davidsons in Operation Nova. Video / Police
A jury has found Comancheros boss Pasilika Naufahu guilty of money laundering and drug charges.
Naufahu was found guilty of two money laundering charges - one in respect of a Ford Ranger and the other a $102,075 Bentley.
He and fellow Comanchero Connor Clausen were found guilty of conspiring to supply the Class B drug pseudoephedrine in September 2018.
A woman, who has name suppression, has also been found guilty of helping the gang launder money in July and August 2018.
Pasilika Naufahu, Comanchero MC president, pictured during the first day of his trial. Photo / Brett Phibbs
Naufahu will be sentenced on November 24 and Clausen on December 9.
The prosecution
The three were arrested after a covert investigation into the activities of the Comanchero Motorcycle Club, code-named Operation Nova.
Naufahu was the president of the gang's Auckland chapter.
More than 80 police officers were involved in the raids, which led to about $4m of assets being seized, including firearms and several luxury vehicles such as a Rolls-Royce Wraith and gold-plated Harley-Davidson motorcycles.
Late-model Range Rovers were among the assets seized in Operation Nova. Photo / Supplied
During the High Court trial the Crown case against Naufahu included that the money moved for the Ford Ranger and the Bentley could not be explained by employment.
The defence case, led by Ron Mansfield, argued that the gang leader had numerous sources of income and the Crown had not proven where the money came from.
During the trial a charge of money laundering and one of conspiracy to import a Class A drug were dismissed for Naufahu.
Naufahu was also accused, with Clausen, of conspiring to supply pseudoephedrine in September 2018.
The Crown alleged Clausen - lower down in the gang chain - was to deliver money, inspect the drugs and deliver them to the Comancheros boss.
Connor Clausen pictured during the first day of the Operation Nova trial in the High Court at Auckland. Photo / Brett Phibbs
Clausen was captured on film for just over two minutes meeting an alleged drug smuggler and He Sha in September 2018.