Duax Ngakuru, the "Supreme Commander" of the Comancheros motorcycle club, on board a luxury yacht in Turkey. Photo / Facebook
Duax Ngakuru, the "Supreme Commander" of the Comancheros motorcycle club, on board a luxury yacht in Turkey. Photo / Facebook
Police are in the dark as to whether New Zealand’s most wanted man will be sent home to stand trial on serious organised crime charges, or prosecuted in Turkey where he was arrested in dramatic raids last week.
Duax Hohepa Ngakuru was born in Rotorua, but grew up in Sydneywhere he rose through the ranks of the Comancheros motorcycle club during a time of violent turf wars between rival gangs.
He left for Turkey alongside his close friend Hakan Ayik, dubbed the “Facebook gangster”, when they believed Australian law enforcement was closing in on their alleged drug empire in 2009.
The pair are believed to have lived an international jet-setting lifestyle ever since, and are alleged to sit at a roundtable of organised crime figures who control major drug smuggling routes around the world, including Australia and New Zealand.
The Herald has previously revealed that Ngakuru, now 44, was the principal target in a covert police investigation in New Zealand since 2016 that later merged into the so-called “sting of the century” run by the FBI and Australian Federal Police.
The law enforcement agencies tricked alleged organised figures around the world into using AN0M, an encrypted communication platform, on which they believed they could talk to each other freely.
In reality, AN0M had been built by the FBI and AFP and the investigators were given back-door access to millions of messages and photographs that criminal groups thought were impossible to intercept.
The incriminating communications were shared with 16 countries, including New Zealand, and Operation Trojan Shield was unveiled in June 2021 with more than 800 arrests and millions of dollars and tonnes of drugs seized.
This unprecedented treasure trove of intelligence included messages sent by Duax Ngakuru that dovetailed with an ongoing New Zealand police inquiry into an alleged drug dealing alliance between the Comancheros and members of the Waikato Mongrel Mob.
Despite the success of Operation Trojan Shield around the world, Ngakuru and Hakan Ayik were still walking free in Turkey.
As far back as 2021, senior New Zealand police officers were in talks with their Turkish counterparts about extraditing Ngakuru to face trial on cocaine and methamphetamine conspiracy offences, as well as import and supply of Class A and B drugs, money laundering and participating in an organised criminal group.
Those talks seemed to go nowhere until Ngakuru, who held the No 1 ranking of “Supreme Commander” in the Comancheros, was arrested by Turkish authorities in January this year on immigration offences.
He was expected to be deported to New Zealand, a faster process than extradition, and was being held in an immigration detention centre pending his appeal.
Then in another twist last week, the Comanchero boss was arrested again in Turkey along with Hakan Ayik, who is a Turkish citizen, and 35 other members of their alleged transnational drug empire.
Turkish authorities also seized an estimated $250m of assets.
“Gang leaders … came to our country and continue their criminal activities, and try to deliver the drugs they procured from South America to Australia, the Netherlands and Hong Kong via South Korea and South Africa, and commit them on a global scale,” Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said in a statement.
“It has been determined that they are trying to launder the income they obtained from crimes in our country.”
Leaders and associates of the Australian Comanchero bikie group have been arrested in Istanbul, including Hakan Ayik (centre), and Kiwi man Duax Hohepa Ngakuru (inset). Photo / Turkish Ministry of International Affairs
Because Hakan Ayik is a citizen, Turkey would be reluctant to extradite him to Australia to stand trial on the charges he faces there. It seems almost certain that Ayik, once dubbed the “Facebook gangster” because of his flamboyant social media posts, will be prosecuted in Turkey.
The situation with Duax Ngakuru is not as clear.
He could still be deported on immigration grounds, in which case Ngakuru would stand trial on the serious drug and money laundering charges laid by New Zealand police following a long-running investigation that merged with the global AN0M sting.
Or he could stand trial in Turkey alongside his friend Hakan Ayik in which it would be possible that New Zealand detectives could be witnesses.
But it seems New Zealand police are also in the dark.
“Mr Ngakuru’s detention in Turkey is a matter for Turkish authorities,” a police spokesperson said in response to Herald questions.
“We don’t have any further comment to make at this time.”
Turkish authorities did not respond to questions.
Regardless of where Ngakuru ends up standing trial, his arrest shows he is not as untouchable as he once thought.
In one intercepted AN0M conversation, Ngakuru discussed a criminal associate who was moving to Turkey to avoid the Australian Federal Police.
The AFP should admit they had “lost the war” on organised crime, Ngakuru said, because he had too much power and influence in Turkey and could “get away with murder”.
