Rugby league legend Manu Vatuvei has revealed he is facing charges of importing, possessing and supplying methamphetamine on the eve of his name suppression lapsing. Video / Manu Vatuvei / Leon Menzies
Auckland-based rugby league legend and TV personality Manu Vatuvei has been sentenced to three years and seven months' prison for his role in a methamphetamine smuggling syndicate.
The former Warriors star, whose 36th birthday is later this week, pleaded guilty last year to a single representative charge of importing the Class A drug. The offence carries a maximum possible sentence of life imprisonment.
He and brother Lopini Lautau Mafi, 49, who pleaded guilty to the same offence, appeared before Judge Jonathan Moses in Manukau District Court today - Vatuvei in person and Mafi via audio-video feed. Mafi was sentenced to seven years and two months' prison.
Former Warriors star Manu Vatuvei arrives at Manukau District Court with lawyer Vivienne Feyen to be sentenced for methamphetamine importation. Photo / Greg Bowker
Defence lawyer Vivienne Feyen told the judge that Vatuvei had impaired reasoning and judgement following a "calamity of events and trauma" in the 18 months leading up to his arrest.
"We have a situation where from 2002 upwards to 2017 he'd spent his life in a very structured environment," she said of his Warriors career, adding that Vatuvei had received "guidance and support" from the team since the age of 16.
"It is apparent that he was ill-equipped to make these fundamental life transitions [after retirement]. That goes to the heart of his decision-making process, his reasoning."
The sentencing brings to an end a two-year legal saga, including 18 months in which Vatuvei was identified only as "one of the biggest names in New Zealand sport" due to his ultimately failed fight for name suppression.
Vatuvei - listed in court documents by his full name, Manu Mapuhola Mafi-Vatuvei - was one of four people arrested in 2019 following a joint investigation by Counties Manukau police and Customs called Operation Clydesdale.
He was accused of importing, possessing and supplying methamphetamine in September, October and November that year - two years after he had retired from rugby league and just months after he had won Dancing with the Stars.
Among the evidence authorities gathered was an intercepted video of Vatuvei and his brother unpackaging what initially appeared to be hair ties and other hair accessories from India - before also removing nine packets of methamphetamine concealed in the packaging.
Manu Vatuvei outside the Manukau District Court after an appearance for charges of importing and supplying methamphetamine in December 2019. Photo / Leon Menzies
The package was one of many that found their way to New Zealand from destinations around the world, according to a summary of facts for the case. The sender, described in court documents as someone the defendants referred to as "Big Boss", had requested them to send a "pic of the parcel" via encrypted messaging service WhatsApp.
"Operation Clydesdale demonstrates that ... Mafi was chief in organising the importation of methamphetamine into New Zealand," the summary of facts state. "... Vatuvei, on instruction from the defendant Mafi, assisted with import arrangements (particularly making inquiries about imported packages and directing others)."
Vatuvei kept his name suppressed from November 2019 until May 2021, when he revealed himself as the defendant in a video post to Instagram.
Former Warriors star Manu Vatuvei arrives for sentencing at Manukau District Court. Photo / Greg Bowker
Name suppression was initially ordered to protect an ongoing police investigation, but in November 2020 - one year into the case - prosecutors no longer sought it. Vatuvei, however, attempted to have the suppression order continued anyway.
His lawyer argued to the District Court and later to the High Court that the league star would face extreme hardship if named and his fair trial rights would be jeopardised. But his application was declined after Crown prosecutor Jessica Pridgeon argued that being well known in and of itself didn't mean the defendant would suffer extreme hardship.
Affectionately nicknamed "the Beast" by fans, Vatuvei played for the Warriors from 2004 to 2017 - the team's top try-scorer for many of those seasons - before spending his final year of professional rugby league in Europe with the Salford Red Devils.
Manu Vatuvei during his 200th game. Photo / Photosport
During that same time, he represented New Zealand in 29 test matches, including the team's triumphant 2008 World Cup, during which he set a tournament record for most tries in a single match by a New Zealand player. As a result, he was named international winger of the year. He also represented Tonga twice in 2017.
In 2018, Vatuvei fought in his first and only professional boxing match as an undercard for Joseph Parker, but he hung up the gloves after discovering a brain cyst.
He then transitioned to dancing, winning the reality TV series Dancing with the Stars in June 2019.
In court today, Vatvuvei's lawyer expressed remorse on his behalf and acknowledged the stark difference between his days as a beloved celebrity and now.
"He has fallen from grace - not a little but a long way," Feyen said.
Mafi's lawyer, Steven Lack, agreed with the Crown that the older brother "played a leading role" in what Lack described as an amateurish - although not small-scale - drug importation syndicate.
"It's no secret that Mr Mafi is very regretful for the position he has put his family in - particularly his brother," Lack said. "That is something he will have to deal with for the rest of his life."
