Jared Savage covers crime and justice issues, with a particular interest in organised crime. He joined the Herald in 2006 and has won a dozen journalism awards in that time, including twice being named Reporter of the Year. He is also the author of Gangland and Gangster’s Paradise.
ANALYSIS:
Whenever I speak in public about the topic of organised crime, I’m inevitably asked a version of the same question: can you please rank the gangs of New Zealand?
I’m always reluctant to give an answer, for several different reasons.
Firstly, it’s like comparing apples with oranges. The Mongrel Mob, for example, is by far the biggest gang by sheer numbers across the country.
But it’s not one big group which acts with a hive mind; each chapter, by and large, is independent from another.
It’s difficult to compare factions within the Mob, let alone an outlaw motorcycle club.
There are approximately 33 different patched gangs in New Zealand and they’re all very different in membership, mentality and motivation.
Gangs are a complex social phenomenon born decades ago out of poverty and abuse, often suffered in state care or their own families.
Members are often on the margins of society, and they have found a sense of identity and belonging by wearing a patch.
What is also true is that gangs dominate the drug trade in New Zealand, though some are more involved in organised crime than others.
Even within gang chapters, some individuals are more involved than others.
So trying to rank the gangs is a futile task, never mind the fact that I’m loath to boost the notoriety of one rival gang over another. They’ve all had their moments.
Last month, members of the King Cobras were convicted of importing hundreds of kilograms of methamphetamine through corrupt baggage handlers at Auckland International Airport.
Last week, a senior Hells Angel pleaded guilty to smuggling at least 450kg of meth inside heavy machinery and $2.4m cash.
This week, a High Court judge ruled that the Head Hunters were an organised criminal group and their leader, Wayne Doyle, must pay $14.8m in profits made from drug dealing and violence.
Those are just recent cases, there are many others.
But they paint a picture of the criminal underworld which has evolved over the past 25 years since meth first arrived in New Zealand, but also rapidly escalated in the last decade.
This is because among the thousands of people deported as so-called 501s from Australia were a small number of influential members of outlaw motorcycle gangs, most notoriously the Comancheros.
In February 2018, I broke the news that a New Zealand chapter of the gang had been established after photographs of the original members with gold-plated Harleys were posted on social media.
The now infamous image was illustrative of the new breed of gangster; there was a brotherhood like the previous generation, but also bling.
Law enforcement agencies were concerned about the gang’s connections to international organised crime, sophisticated criminal tradecraft, and a brazen attitude to gun violence.
Those predictions soon came true.
A few months later, Auckland drug dealer Abraham Tu’uheava and his wife (who miraculously survived) were shot in the head in an execution-style killing by the Comancheros.
The ruthless murder is seen as a watershed moment in recent history, and since then the gang has also been linked to a number of other shootings.
Detectives in the National Organised Crime Group (NOCG) have also targeted the Comancheros in a series of covert investigations into money laundering or large-scale drug offending.
Just last week, a patched member pleaded guilty to the possession of 613kg of methamphetamine - the largest seizure at the border in New Zealand history - at the conclusion of Operation Weirton.
Even though most of their founding members are currently in prison, or deported back to Australia in one case, the “Comos” seem to keep growing in size and influence.
They expanded into rival territories by recruiting high-ranking members of rival gangs, such as the Mongrel Mob, King Cobras and the Head Hunters, as well as “patching over” the entire Rebels chapter in Christchurch.
Every single patched member of that Christchurch chapter has been arrested following Operation Avon, an eight-month investigation into alleged drug dealing, the police announced today.
Police allege the gang moved about $15m of meth and cocaine from Auckland to Christchurch (where the price of meth is higher) every few weeks.
Around 5kg of drugs were seized, along with 11 firearms and ammunition, as well as $250,000. Police also restrained $1.9m of assets, including 11 vehicles.
One of those arrested is a senior member of the hierarchy based in Auckland, whose name is suppressed.
“These groups have no hesitation in peddling drugs and accumulating vehicles and property, with no regard for the destruction they cause in everyday New Zealanders’ lives,” said Detective Inspector Darrin Thompson.
“We have no doubt that this disruption of the Comanchero gang will have a positive impact on the drug supply chain across the country.”
The charges are unproven allegations at this stage. But Operation Avon is the latest in a string of 10 NOCG investigations, at least, targeting the Comancheros in the past five years.
It’s a relentless focus on one gang that hasn’t been seen since the police went after key members of the Head Hunters about 10 years ago, culminating with the restraint of the East chapter’s pad on Marua Rd.
Covert investigations take months, if not years, to complete so the police do not deploy their scarce resources on a whim.
Messages sent by the Comancheros hierarchy to their members, which have been obtained by police, show they believe they sit at the top of the underworld pecking order.
The decision to keep piling the pressure on the Comancheros is a strong indicator police might agree with that ranking.
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.
The vehicle was damaged while later being towed and an $11k claim by the owner followed.