Counties Manukau police highlight the work they have done in Operation Tauwhiro that has seized 1,369 firearms, made 1,161 arrests in relation to firearms offences and seized more than 52,000 grams of methamphetamine. Video / NZ Police
A cache of illegal firearms was discovered in a raid on the home of an Auckland man who allegedly tried to buy two Glock pistols from an undercover police officer, according to court documents.
The US Department of Homeland Security tipped off New Zealand police about the 37-year-old who wastargeted in a three-month covert inquiry that ended on Monday.
A loaded M16 rifle - once the favoured firearm of the United States military - was found in the boot of a car parked at the Mt Roskill address.
Inside the home where the man lived, detectives discovered a loaded Bruni pistol, a Ruger .22 rifle, a pump-action shotgun, a NHM-90 and another unmarked semi-automatic rifle. Police also found 223 grams of methamphetamine packaged into seven-ounce bags.
The NHM-90 is the same model of firearm used to murder Constable Matt Hunt in a routine traffic stop in West Auckland two years ago.
"Yet again, we see a link to Class A drugs and military-style loaded firearms," said Detective Superintendent Greg Williams, the head of the National Organised Crime Group.
"However the good news is, like every gun we seize under these types of circumstances, they will be destroyed and out of circulation forever."
Dennis Christopher Sukanaveita appeared in the Auckland District Court and was charged with unlawful possession of the M16, possession of methamphetamine for supply, and trafficking of firearms.
In relation to the trafficking charge, court documents allege Sukanaveita "intentionally entered into an arrangement" with an undercover police officer to bring two Glock pistols into New Zealand.
Williams said the investigation is ongoing and more charges could be laid.
The inquiry is being run by the Firearms Investigation Team, recently established as part of Operation Tauwhiro, to look into how firearms are making their way into the hands of gangs and other criminals.
Some of the firearms found in a Mt Roskill address this week following an undercover sting operation. Photo / Supplied
A pistol found in a Mt Roskill address this week following an undercover sting operation. Photo / Supplied
Operation Tauwhiro was launched in February last year as a response to recent escalation in gun violence between rival gangs and shootings in public, but was criticised this week as "business as usual" by National MP Mark Mitchell.
More than 1500 firearms were taken out of criminal hands in the first 12 months, which is a figure often cited by Police Minister Poto Williams as "resounding success" and a result of Labour's tough stance on gangs.
But the 1531 seized firearms attributed to Operation Tauwhiro include any taken from gang members or associates during routine police work, such as traffic stops or 111 calls, or other organised crime investigations already underway.
"It captures everything staff were already doing. Front-line police officers have been instructed to record any interaction with gang members, guns seized or warrants executed against Operation Tauwhiro," Mitchell said earlier this week.
"This creates a false impression that Operation Tauwhiro is responsible for the numbers provided when in fact most of those numbers would have been achieved even if Tauwhiro didn't exist."
Data provided to the Herald shows fewer firearms were found during Operation Tauwhiro than the three previous calendar years: 1862 (2020), 1790 (2019), and 1626 (2018).
In a interview earlier this week, Greg Williams acknowledged the number of firearms seized during the 12-month operation was slightly down on previous years, but pointed out Tauwhiro only counted guns seized from gangs - not all firearms as in previous years.
The Delta lockdown in Auckland also had an impact, said Greg Williams, as fewer search warrants were conducted by police in the second half of 2021.
But the senior detective says the success of Tauwhiro can be measured in more than just numbers.
"It would have been easy for us to do a six-month operation to kick in doors and take guns. But the concern was around the kind of firepower the gangs have access to, and they're more willing to use them.
"We're talking AR-15s and AK-47s, shotguns and pistols. So the wider focus for Tauwhiro was to look at how gangs and organised crime were getting their guns, and disrupting those illicit supply chains."
For many years, the police have believed that most firearms in criminal hands are stolen from legitimate gun owners.
One of the military-style firearms discovered in the Auckland home of a man targeted in an undercover sting by the Firearms Investigation Team. Photo / Supplied
But Greg Williams said the number of stolen firearms had actually decreased and Operation Tauwhiro's analysis of gun sales showed "straw purchasing" - a tactic also known as retail diversion where licensed firearms owners sell guns to criminals - was a much bigger problem than previously thought.
Eight individuals were prosecuted including meth dealer Gordon McRae, as first revealed by the Herald, who in some cases swapped drugs for guns.
But the smattering of case studies were not treated as individual bad apples. Instead, the recently established Firearms Investigation Team cast the net wider and is now analysing 150,000 gun sales from the past two-and-half years.
This month, the New Zealand Police will also gain access to an international database, eTrace, which is run by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) in the United States.
The system allows law enforcement agencies around the world to share manufacturing and sales data, to help investigators trace illegal firearms as far back as the factory plant where they were made.
Eventually, the police will be able to join the eTrace technology with firearms import data held by the New Zealand Customs.
Working more closely with overseas law enforcement is already paying dividends, said Greg Williams in reference to the Homeland Security tip which led to the discovery of the meth and guns in Mt Roskill this week.
"What we're trying to do with Tauwhiro is change the entire environment and disrupt the illicit supply of firearms. We are changing the way we investigate firearms, alongside the regulatory changes."
This new focus on the illicit supply chains is being closely co-ordinated with the tightening of regulations in the wake of the Christchurch terror attacks.
As well as banning semi-automatic weapons, the Labour Government introduced a national firearms register as part of its wider gun reforms.
From June next year, each individual firearm will need to be registered to a licence holder. A loophole which allows the private sale of firearms without recording the details of the new owner will also be closed.
