Luxury cars, like this Ferrari seized in Operation Cincinnati in October 2020, are among the $1 billion worth of criminal assets seized since 2009. Video / NZ Police
Five men who were swept up in a major undercover police investigation into large-scale drug distribution by two motorcycle gangs have been sentenced, including one defendant who had two former All Blacks ask the judge for mercy.
In three back-to-back hearings in the High Court at Auckland this morning, Justice Neil Campbell handed down sentences of home detention or community supervision to Jarrad Singer, Joshua Tofa-Tulisi, Sioeli Fakafanua, Taniela Mafileo and one co-defendant who continues to have name suppression.
They were among 14 people arrested at the conclusion of Operation Cincinnati, in which police used recording devices to snoop on Comancheros acting national commander Seiana Fakaosilea and others over the course of months in 2020.
None of those sentenced today were considered major players in the drug syndicate, which was described as an operation involving the Comancheros and Rebels gangs to import, manufacture and distribute commercial-scale quantities of methamphetamine and MDMA.
Other co-defendants - including Fakaosileo, who was found guilty by a jury last month of conspiring to import roughly $90 million worth of methamphetamine from South Africa - are set to be sentenced later this year.
The five men sentenced today pleaded guilty in July, as their joint jury trial was scheduled to begin.
All Blacks support
Family members of Tofa-Tulisi - including parents who flew from Australia and his uncle, retired All Black Eroni Clarke - filled the courtroom today as he was sentenced for possession of MDMA for supply and supplying MDMA.
"He sincerely regrets his actions and vows not to repeat them," Clarke said as he stood before the judge, noting that his nephew has never been a gang member and had never been in trouble before. "I ask for mercy.
"He has suffered greatly. He has learned his lesson."
Tofa-Tulisi, 26, was caught selling ecstasy for $200 per gram or $2000 per ounce between January and December 2020, using an encrypted app that made it difficult for police to establish exactly how much was sold.
Eroni Clarke, seen in 2021, was at the courtroom to support Joshua Tofa-Tulisi. Photo / Getty Images
But after searching his home, police found 17 baggies, each containing 1g of MDMA, inside his car. An analysis of his mobile phone uncovered references to drug deals and videos of him counting and bundling large quantities of cash.
"You stated you found it at a wedding," Justice Campbell noted of his initial explanation for the stash discovered by police.
Although Tofa-Tulisi was dealing the drugs for commercial profit, Crown prosecutor Ben Kirkpatrick acknowledged that he was "very much on the outer periphery" of the syndicate and played a minor role. He also acknowledged the context of what was happening in his personal life at the time.
Police made multiple arrests and seized drugs and cash as part of Operation Cincinnati in late 2020. Photo / Supplied
Tofa-Tulisi had moved to Australia with his immediate family when he was 12 but returned to Auckland in 2019, at age 23, to look after his ailing grandparents, the court was told. Most of the money he earned was sent back to his family in Australia as they struggled through the pandemic, the judge noted. His grandfather and great-grandmother died within a week of each other in 2020 and he was without immediate family to lean on for support, the judge also said.
Defence lawyer John Kovacevich read aloud part of a cultural report prepared by All Blacks great Sir Michael Jones, who compared his own Samoan heritage to that of the defendant.
"While not condoning his actions at all, I recognise and appreciate the pressures from within motivated by his innate sense of loyalty and alofe [love] for his family, parents, grandparents and aiga [extended family]," Jones wrote.
"As a young Polynesian boy growing up in West Auckland, without a father, I felt this powerful sense of duty and love for my mother and family, who raised me and surrounded me with unconditional love, care and compassion. I recall whenever I worked for a pay cheque I would give almost all of it to my mother. It was not even an option to keep all or even most of it."
Providing for his family brought him immense joy and was expected of him, Jones explained.
"I do hope that this cultural reality for us as Samoan and as evidenced in Josh's motivations and behaviours, is given credence and acknowledgement in any final judgment on the future and life of Joshua," Jones wrote.
While announcing the sentence, Justice Campbell said he accepted Jones' views that the offending was "in part a response to your Samoan culture". The judge described Tofa-Tulisi as a contributing member to his family and, other than the events leading to his arrest, a contributing member of society.
While the offending was serious, the defendant appeared to be genuinely remorseful and had already spent more than four months on bail with a restrictive 24-hour curfew, he noted.
Campbell ordered Tofa-Tulisi to serve 10 months of home detention for both charges, with the sentences to run concurrently.
Robbery thwarted
During the course of the investigation, police were listening in on conversations in real-time when they discovered a rapidly unfolding plot to rob a person of drugs and money.
That interception resulted in another set of sentencings today as Fakafanua, the man with name suppression and Mafileo, a member of the Comancheros, were sentenced together for conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery. Fakafanua had also pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of ammunition.
The trio had hatched a scheme in a Mt Roskill McDonald's car park in November 2020 to rob an "unknown party" later in the day.
Mafileo was to get a rental car and drive to a location where he'd sell drugs to the person unknown to authorities. Fakafanua and another associate would then show up with guns and take the drugs and money, beating Mafileo in the process to make it seem as if he was also a victim, according to court documents.
A jury found Taniela Mafileo not guilty of two methamphetamine-related charges but he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery. Photo / Brett Phibbs
Police deployed the Eagle helicopter later that night in an effort to stop the robbery from taking place. The man with name suppression believed police were following him and as a result the plan was aborted.
Lawyers for the men said the robbery was not a gang operation, and Justice Campbell said today that he was satisfied it wasn't. But there was considerable pre-meditation and violence was intended, he noted.
"These factors in tandem make your behaviour highly concerning," he said.
He agreed with defence lawyers and the prosecutor that the "punitive" elements of their sentences had already been carried out through strict bail restrictions.
In addition to the robbery charge he pleaded guilty to, Mafileo was also accused of two meth-related charges as a result of the investigation. However, the jury acquitted him of those charges at the conclusion of last month's trial.
A fifth co-defendant, Singer, sat in a dock at the High Court at Christchurch today as he appeared via audio-video feed for his sentencing.
He had pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact to possession of methamphetamine for supply.
An associate of the Rebels at the time Operation Cincinnati search warrants were executed, Singer helped flush methamphetamine down the sink and toilet and smashed three mobile phones as police tried to gain entry to the Rebels gang pad in Christchurch.
Police had been following two Comancheros associates as they travelled from Auckland to Christchurch for the illicit delivery. They had secretly intercepted the drugs on the Interislander ferry and estimated the amount to be about 2kg. But the drugs were not weighed before they were put back in the vehicle so that police could continue following the duo.
"As a result of your actions, police were not able to weigh the methamphetamine [after the search warrant]," Justice Campbell said.
After the arrest Singer became a patched member of the gang.
But the judge noted that Singer has since moved to the West Coast, where he is steadily employed. He sentenced Singer to 12 months of community supervision, with a special condition that he not associate with any Rebels members unless given approval by his probation officer.
