Several Air New Zealand baggage handlers at Auckland Airport pleaded guilty to helping unload a secret stash of methamphetamine from an arriving Malaysian Airlines flight in 2021. Photo / Supplied
Several Air New Zealand baggage handlers at Auckland Airport pleaded guilty to helping unload a secret stash of methamphetamine from an arriving Malaysian Airlines flight in 2021. Photo / Supplied
Police follow prosecution of baggage handlers in drugs conspiracy with civil action to forfeit cash earned through crime.
Matangikolo Piukana pleaded guilty to charges related to meth importation and conspiracy but hasn’t been sentenced yet.
Justice Christine Gordon ordered the forfeiture of $413,290, which will become the property of the Crown.
Police have confiscated more than $400,000 from an Air New Zealand baggage handler who was a “logistical organiser” for a syndicate importing methamphetamine through Auckland Airport.
Matangikolo Piukana helped in several meth importations, mainly from Malaysia, and was prosecuted in connection with three consignments of the drug in June and July 2021.
He has pleaded guilty to representative charges of importing meth and conspiracy to import the drug but has yet to be sentenced.
In addition to the criminal prosecution, police went after the money earned from the drug importations, obtaining restraining orders over $316,900 found stashed at Piukana’s sister’s house and $24,470 in the bedroom of his own home.
They did so through civil High Court action under the Proceeds of Crime (Recovery) Act 2009, which is used to confiscate criminals’ assets that have been “tainted” by their illegal activity.
As part of that lawsuit, police also gained control of a family bank account containing more than $264,000, but most of that money will be given back as it belongs to relatives of Piukana who were not involved in his crimes.
A High Court decision by Justice Christine Gordon just before Christmas ordered the forfeiture of all the cash and $71,920 of the money in the bank account. In total, $413,290 will become the property of the Crown.
Piukana was among several airline employees who were rounded up in an operation by the Police’s National Organised Crime Group and the Customs Service which began in July 2021.
Large amounts of cash were seized when Police and Customs closed down a smuggling operation involving baggage handlers at Auckland Airport in 2021. Photo / NZ Police
Piukana was a “logistical organiser” of the syndicate, who received orders from the group to assign baggage handling staff to particular flights to collect the imported drugs.
The drugs were then driven off airport grounds without going through the Customs area.
Piukana also handled money earned from the operation and stored large amounts of cash at the home of his sister, Sanlolan Piukana, and her husband, Sitaleki Maka.
Sanlolan Piukana and Maka both pleaded guilty to receiving in relation to the $316,900 found at their Waterview, Auckland home. They were sentenced to 12 months of home detention on November 14.
In her judgment, Justice Gordon said police had acknowledged that Matangikolo Piukana did not physically take possession of the methamphetamine that had been brought into the country, but he “facilitated” its importation.
“When the value of the controlled drugs or cash that he handled is taken into account, he must have unlawfully benefited from his role in facilitating the importation of at least 110kg of methamphetamine.”
Nigel Iuvale, here in the High Court at Auckland, was described as the "head of the snake" in the importation of hundreds of kilograms of methamphetamine with the help of Auckland Airport baggage handlers. Photo / Jason Oxenham
Tungane Manuel, another airport employee found guilty of drug trafficking charges after a jury trial in June and July, was sentenced to 11 years and six months in prison.
Several other baggage handlers have already been sentenced for their roles in the operation, with jail terms ranging from two years and four months to 12 years and six months.
Another man, accused of having been the second in command under Iuvale, is set for sentencing next month. His name is suppressed for now.
Other syndicate members are due to be sentenced over the next four months.
Ric Stevens spent many years working for the former New Zealand Press Association news agency, including as a political reporter at Parliament, before holding senior positions at various daily newspapers. He joined NZME’s Open Justice team in 2022 and is based in Hawke’s Bay. His writing in the crime and justice sphere is informed by four years of front-line experience as a probation officer.
