Gang members arrested after 200kg of methamphetamine taken in Port of Tauranga burglary

Two Mongrel Mob members allegedly broke into a shipping container at the Port of Tauranga to grab 200kg of methamphetamine in suitcases. Composite image / NZME

• Two Mongrel Mob members allegedly entered a restricted area of the Port of Tauranga and broke into a shipping container.
• A police chase ended with their car being spiked and five suitcases of methamphetamine discovered.
• The alleged burglary is the latest example of organised crime trying to circumvent border security.

Two gang members allegedly broke into a shipping container at the Port of Tauranga to grab 200kg of methamphetamine stowed inside, the Herald can reveal.

The drugs were packed inside five suitcases, which the Mongrel Mob duo loaded into their car, police allege, before driving recklessly at speed through heavy traffic towards Whakatāne.

The brazen daylight heist on December 11 ended when police laid out road spikes on the Eastern Link highway.

Detective Inspector Craig Rawlinson said the pair fled the disabled vehicle on foot but were found a short distance away.

He said the drug-laden suitcases were found inside the car, along with an angle grinder and gloves, which police believe were used to break into the shipping container.

Court documents show two men, both 28, were charged with entering the Port of Tauranga without authority, possession of instruments for burglary, refusing to give police the passcodes to their phones, and possession of a Class-A drug for supply.

The methamphetamine offence carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. The pair were remanded in custody until next year.

Two other men, aged 33 and 36, were arrested a week later after a joint investigation by the National Organised Crime Group and Customs.

They appeared in the Tauranga District Court on Thursday and were charged with importing 200kg of methamphetamine, among other alleged offences.

Detective Inspector Albie Alexander said the four men arrested have links to the Mongrel Mob, but also the Comancheros and Filthy Few outlaw motorcycle gangs.

The seizure of such a large quantity of methamphetamine would make a dent in the drug supply across the Bay of Plenty, Alexander said.

“Even more significantly, we believe we have now shut down an insider threat at the port, and inquiries into this aspect will continue.”

The alleged burglary happened after Customs officers became aware of suspicious concealment during a routine X-ray of the shipping container, which was flagged for further inspection.

Alexander believed the alleged criminal syndicate may have been operating from inside the port for some time.

Law enforcement have repeatedly warned about organised criminal groups probing for weaknesses at the border, either through burglaries or corrupt “insiders” who can circumvent security measures to smuggle drugs into the country.

But the 200kg of methamphetamine found in the suitcases in Tauranga is the biggest bust of its kind.

The alleged burglary raises questions about how the two Mongrel Mob members managed to gain access to a restricted area at the Port of Tauranga, the busiest port in the country.

A spokeswoman for the port declined to comment as the investigation was ongoing.

There have been other alleged break-ins at the port in recent years.

In December 2023, three men linked to the Comancheros motorcycle gang allegedly cut a wire fence and entered the grounds of the port in the middle of the night.

The trio had allegedly driven down from Auckland the previous day and had purchased around $500 of high-visibility clothing and work boots. Tools and duffel bags were also found in their car.

However, no drug shipment was found in connection to the burglary.

Several months earlier, security staff at the Port of Tauranga raised the alarm with police after finding signs of a break-in at the boundary fence.

Over the next two days, Customs officers then searched 36 shipping containers and discovered plastic-wrapped cocaine “bricks”, weighing 26kg and worth an estimated $12m, inside the refrigeration unit of one container. Three men were arrested.

Dominic Adams, the investigations manager at Customs, said New Zealand continued to be an attractive market for organised criminal groups to smuggle drugs including methamphetamine and cocaine, as well as illicit tobacco.

Customs was seeing an increase in legitimate imports being targeted by overseas criminal groups who conceal illicit drugs within freight containers or container contents, which are later recovered by New Zealand-based criminals, Adams said. This can involve attempted break-ins to collect the drugs.

“We know that criminal groups attempt to circumvent border and port security processes to intercept drugs. We work closely with port companies, their security teams and our police colleagues to ensure people who intentionally attempt to breach port security measures are identified and apprehended. Our increased port and maritime presence is helping us face this threat,” Adams said.

“Criminal infiltration of the supply chain is common overseas, and it is a threat that all supply chain businesses including port companies should be alert to. The Customs Border Protect team has a range of resources to support businesses to identify and report criminal infiltration in the supply chain.”

Security camera footage of an Air New Zealand baggage handler helping unload a secret stash of methamphetamine on a Malaysian Airlines flight. Photo / Supplied

A number of recent covert investigations have uncovered corrupt port and airport staff - known as “having a door” into the country - working for gangs.

In 2019, a supervisor at the Ports of Auckland was caught after a shipping container flagged for inspection disappeared from the wharves on the back of a truck in the middle of the night.

The container was linked to the Mongols motorcycle gang and $90,000 was found in a shoebox at the supervisor’s home.

Several linked investigations focusing on Auckland International Airport revealed rival crews of baggage handlers smuggling drugs for the King Cobra gang and other criminal syndicates.

And in Operation Tarpon, a stevedore at the Port of Tauranga was sent to prison as part of a plot to smuggle 200kg of cocaine belonging to a Mexican cartel.

With millions of dollars to be made from the methamphetamine trade in New Zealand, police and Customs have long warned of the risk of bribery and corruption.

However, the arrival of outlaw motorcycle gangs such as the Comancheros after senior members were deported as “501s” from Australia has accelerated the need for greater vigilance.

Although a small fraction of the “501″ deportees, nicknamed after the section of the immigration law used to remove them on character grounds, law enforcement believe these gangs have led to an escalation in the criminal underworld.

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.