Gangs are behind nearly one-in-three sales of methamphetamine across the country, with even more control of the markets in Northland and the South Island, according to new research into New Zealand’s drug markets.
An anonymous survey of 13,000 drug users conducted by Massey University found that 31 per cent purchasedtheir meth from a gang member or associate, which was significantly higher compared to other illegal drugs like cannabis (17 per cent) or MDMA (6 per cent).
Gangs had even more retail dominance in Northland (41 per cent of all sales) and Canterbury (39 per cent), followed by the Tasman and Marlborough regions (38 per cent), then Wellington, West Coast and Southland (36 per cent).
While the involvement of gangs in the drug trade is widely known, the latest findings of the New Zealand Drug Trends Survey were still surprising to Associate Professor Chris Wilkins, who has been researching drug trends for more than 20 years.
“We normally see gangs involved at the upper end of the drug market; arranging or receiving a large importation from overseas, or controlling distribution at a wholesale level to dealers,” Wilkins said.
“But retail is the most risky part. So to see anywhere from 30 to 40 per cent of all retail sales is quite extraordinary. This shows how integrated gangs are at all levels of the meth market.”
Methamphetamine is sold by the kilogram or ounce weight at a wholesale level, then broken down into grams, quarter-grams or “points” - or 0.1g - at a retail level.
Wilkins’ research shows the average price of a gram has dropped by 28 per cent nationwide in the last four years, from $563 to $406.
The average price of a point has reduced from $101 to $89.
But there is a big difference between Auckland (where a gram costs just $350, the cheapest in the country) and the regions.
In particular, meth is more expensive in the South Island where a gram costs between $400 (Canterbury) to $530 (Tasman, Nelson and Marlborough).
Wilkins said there appeared to be a link between the higher price of meth in the South Island and the dominance of gangs in retail sales in Canterbury, Tasman, Nelson and the West Coast.
The greater profits to be made have led gangs which might not have previously had a presence in the South Island to move into the lucrative market.
Most notably two of the Australian outlaw motorcycle gangs, the Comancheros and the Mongols, have recently established chapters in Christchurch.
Senior members of both gangs have been convicted of meth dealing in the South Island following covert police investigations such as Operation Cincinnati and Operation Silk.
Wilkins said the drop in the retail price of methamphetamine in recent years reflected the industrial-scale production and trafficking by global organised crime syndicates, mostly based in Southeast Asia or the Americas, which flooded the market.
This was consistent with the findings of the Massey drug trends survey, which asked about the availability of methamphetamine.
Nearly half of respondents said “very easy” with another 40 per cent reporting it was “easy”, despite record seizures at the border in recent years.
For many years, the largest shipment of meth was 95kg in 2006. Operation Major dwarfed every other seizure for the next decade and was seen as an outlier until 501kg was found near Ninety Mile Beach in 2016.
The 501kg of methamphetamine seized in Operation Frontia was the first of many record-breaking busts since 2016. Photo / Supplied
Since then, amounts in excess of 100kg have become routine and just this week, the Herald revealed a new record meth bust - 747kg found at a property in Manukau in March.
The enormous haul was discovered during a police investigation into the death of a young man who drank what he thought was an imported beer. It was, in fact, liquid meth.
The 747kg found in Operation Lavender topped the previous record set in January when Operation Regis found 713kg concealed in maple syrup bottles at the border.
The biggest bust before that was 613kg discovered at Auckland International Airport by Operation Weirton, a covert investigation into the Comancheros.
This has been driven by the lucrative profits still on offer to global crime syndicates, despite prices falling in New Zealand recently because of their supply.
A kilogram of methamphetamine might sell for $1000 in Mexico or Cambodia. The same amount is worth anywhere between $120,000 to $180,000 in New Zealand.
“We used to talk about tens of kilos. Now we talk about the hundreds,” Wilkins said.
“We’ve got the Mexican cartels and the Asian cartels driving that supply. But they need wholesale buyers here in New Zealand, to purchase in bulk, and the biggest players are the gangs.”
Struggling towns in Northland, Bay of Plenty and the East Coast are the worst affected by the country’s methamphetamine crisis, where the weekly per capita consumption rate of the drug can be more than double the national average, according to Herald analysis in 2021 of two years of wastewater test results.
Frontline social and health workers in struggling rural regions are crying out for more funding for education, counselling and rehabilitation like the successful Te Ara Oranga programme in Northland.
The Labour Government promised to expand the joint police-health initiative during the 2020 election campaign but the only additional Te Ara Oranga services outside Northland is the establishment of the programme in Murupara last year.
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.
