Judge puts freeze on drug-ring pair's assets

A judge has frozen drug bosses' assets seized in police raids on a multimillion-dollar P ring that used SkyCity casino's VIP lounge as an office - including $550,000 cash and three sports cars.

Two more key players in Operation Manu were handed lengthy jail terms in the High Court at Auckland yesterday. Zhong Wei and Chen Huang were each sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment.

Justice Peter Woodhouse said Wei, 26, and Huang, 25, could have been sentenced to life imprisonment for the large amounts of methamphetamine they were dealing.

Wei was caught with more than 5kg of P, worth $5 million. Huang had 2kg, with a street value of $2 million.

After sentencing, Crown prosecutor Ben Finn successfully sought orders to freeze the pair's assets.

He said the Crown would ask for Wei and Huang to be ordered to pay $1.3 millon and $580,000 respectively for their crimes.

The Crown has also applied for the men's "tainted" assets - including $550,000 in a safety deposit box and three sports cars - to be forfeited under the Proceeds of Crime Act should the penalty orders be granted.

Wei owned a late-model Chrysler Crossfire which police confiscated, and Huang owned a BMW and an Alfa Romeo.

Wei and Huang were high-ranking members in the Asian crime syndicate and their long sentences come as two more underlings were convicted of methamphetamine offences.

Guozhi Li was last week found guilty of six drugs charges after a three-week trial, and Chunpong Cheng pleaded guilty to three charges before the trial began. They will be sentenced this month and next month.

Another key figure in the gang, Ri Tong Zhou, 41, was jailed for 15 years in March after admitting more than 30 methamphetamine-related charges, including the supply of more than $3 million worth of P in just two months.

In sentencing Zhou, Justice Rhys Harrison strongly criticised SkyCity casino for the way it had been used by the drug dealers.

The court was told Zhou ran a sophisticated distribution network, often using the VIP lounge at SkyCity as a hub to discuss the buying and selling of methamphetamine.

Money and drugs even exchanged hands in the basement carpark.

Detective Sergeant Lloyd Schmid was the officer in charge of the year-long investigation that ended in 13 people being arrested and millions of dollars worth of P and cash being seized.

The Crown now seeks to keep the money seized - including $558,000 stashed in a deposit box owned by Zhong Wei.

During 2006, police investigated a large-scale drug ring run by an Asian organised crime syndicate, headed by a mystery man nicknamed Xiao Pang in China.

The inquiry uncovered criminals involved in the supply and distribution of methamphetamine, particularly in Auckland, Waikato and the Bay of Plenty.

Police tapped more than 13,500 phone calls between October and December 2006.

In that time, Zhou supplied 3.8kg of methamphetamine worth up to $3.8 million. His main source of P was Zhong Wei, who in turn took orders from Xiao Pang.

When Zhou wanted more drugs, Wei would make a phone call to Pang, who would arrange with Chen Huang to make the drugs available.

Then Wei and Huang would liaise directly to exchange money and drugs. The pair dealt in half-kilogram or kilogram amounts - a street value of $500,000 to $1 million.

Zhong Wei would then deliver the drugs to Zhou's apartment in downtown Auckland. Zhou had seven identified drug dealers to distribute the P, including Alan McQuade, who was sentenced to 14 years' imprisonment, and Guozhi Li, Chunpong Cheng, Lyrice Peri, Jia Wang and Gang Cai, who were also convicted.

Another alleged dealer, Di Wu, is on the run from police after leaving his lawyer Ron Mansfield's office during a special visit the day before he was scheduled to stand trial.

He has forfeited a $200,000 bail bond to the High Court.