Police seized two Kia Sportage cars worth $35,000 to $45,000 each. Photos / NZ Police
Police seized two Kia Sportage cars worth $35,000 to $45,000 each. Photos / NZ Police
They said a Mongrel Mob member, Tui Miller, who had about $80,000 in cash and cars forfeited this week was relatively small fry.
Detective Senior Sergeant Alex Macdonald of the Police Asset Recovery Unit said his team had seized more than $6.6 million worth of property and cash from Mongrel Mob members in the Hawke's Bay region over the past two years.
"The gangs in Hawke's Bay are causing a lot of damage to the community," Macdonald said on Wednesday. "Our focus is to try to disrupt that as much as we can."
The Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act 2009 allows police to seize and apply for forfeiture of assets gained from the proceeds of crime.
Actions by police to confiscate assets under the Act go through the courts as civil, not criminal, cases.
Macdonald this week released photographs of assets taken from Miller in 2019 – about $10,000 in cash found in the glovebox of his car, and two Kia Sportage vehicles worth about $35,000 to $45,000 when police seized them in 2019.
Police found about $10,000 in Tui Miller's glove box. They also seized two Kia Sportage cars worth $35,000 to $45,000 each. Photos / NZ Police
A High Court order for the forfeiture of Miller's seized assets has just come through.
Macdonald said their precise value would not be known until the cars were sold, and they would be worth less now than when they were taken.
Miller, a member of the Mongrel Mob Notorious chapter, was arrested in 2019 following a vehicle stop in Havelock North, where the cash and about 50 grams of methamphetamine worth about $14,000 were found.
He was taken to hospital after reporting he felt unwell, and escaped from custody there.
Miller was found and arrested in Auckland, and sentenced to two-and-a-half-years in prison for possession of methamphetamine for supply, possession of cannabis, driving while suspended and escaping custody.
Macdonald said Miller bought both vehicles with money acquired from selling illicit drugs.
He said asset seizures would have a direct impact on gangs' financial gain, "which is one of the primary underlying reasons that organised crime exists".
He urged businesses to be mindful when accepting significant cash payments from gang members.
"At best you are assisting people who are bringing great harm into the community, and are potentially participating in a money laundering transaction that you or your business may be criminally liable for," Macdonald said.
Money from seized assets is placed in a Proceeds of Crime Fund, which is then used to finance community services for drug treatment, mental health and other "crime-related harm".
