Superintendent Tim Anderson and Detective Superintendent Greg Williams discuss the Operation Highwater investigation into alleged drug dealing by the Mongrel Mob Barbarians.
Twenty are accused of significant drug-dealing offences.
The charges stem from a 10-month police investigation into the activities of members of the eastern Bay of Plenty Mongrel Mob Barbarian MC chapter and some of their associates.
Police earlier said the National Organised Crime Group launched Operation Highwater in December 2023 after a reported increase in violent crimes and other issues in the Ōpōtiki district.
On Tuesday last week police executed 30 search warrants in Ōpōtiki, Auckland, Taupō, Porirua, Wellington, and the East Coast. They arrested 28 people allegedly involved in a North Island-wide drug distribution network, including methamphetamine and cannabis.
Twenty arrests were made in the Bay of Plenty, three in Auckland, three in Waikato and two in Wellington.
Those arrested are accused of committing offences in Tauranga, Rotorua, Hamilton, Ōpōtiki, Wellington and elsewhere in New Zealand.
Two days of special hearings were held in the Tauranga District Court for those accused of being involved in a North Island-wide drug distribution network. Photo / NZME
Police said illegal drugs and firearms were seized and $800,000 worth of assets was restrained, including one residential property, four vehicles, and $65,500 cash.
Most of those arrested appeared one after another in person or via an audio-visual link before Judge Thomas Ingram over two days of special hearings in the Tauranga District Court on Tuesday and Wednesday. Some faced a handful of charges while others faced many.
Twenty-three defendants are charged with participating in an organised criminal group and various other serious charges, including 20 being accused of significant methamphetamine and/or cannabis dealing offences, which includes a 25-year-old man who cannot be named.
The 25-year-old, who faces a total of 25 charges, and three other accused were given interim name suppression by Judge Ingram despite opposition by Tauranga Crown solicitor Anna Pollett.
Judge Ingram said interim name suppression would lapse on November 1 unless the defendants’ lawyers filed written applications seeking continuation.
But the names of the 19 other defendants and their charges can now be revealed – including a man who faces 33 charges, 18 of which are supplying methamphetamine.
Pollett submitted there was no evidence before the court that publication would cause extreme hardship to the defendants, but duty lawyers acting for those accused seeking name suppression told Judge Ingram legal counsel was yet to be assigned.
Pollett opposed bail for most of the accused.
The 25-year-old whose name is suppressed is also accused of money laundering, firearms and burglary offences, and various other charges.
This includes unlawful possession of a cut-down Ruger pistol, another pistol and a rifle with silencers attached, two shotguns and an A47-style prohibited firearm with a large magazine attached, attempting to pervert the course of justice, and ill-treatment of a child under 18.
The accused also faced a joint charge of conspiracy to wound with intent to cause grievous bodily harm – a charge related to an allegation that the defendant and four others were involved in a plot to carry out a shooting of Black Power members who were attending a tangi this year.
A fifth Operation Highwater defendant was given interim name suppression by another Tauranga District Court judge on Wednesday.
He was bailed on charges of participating in an organised criminal group and conspiring with others to commit grievous bodily harm to persons unknown.
Judge Ingram remanded all the defendants in custody or bail on strict conditions including having no contact with their co-defendants and submitting to drug tests if requested by uniformed police officers.
None of the defendants entered pleas to their charges and their next court appearances are on November 29 for a special callover hearing.
Judge Ingram issued arrest warrants for two other Operation Highwater defendants who had failed to attend court. One is charged with a money laundering offence and the other with firearm charges and participating in an organised criminal group.
Sandra Conchie is a senior journalist at the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post who has been a journalist for 24 years. She mainly covers police, court and other justice stories, as well as general news. She has been a Canon Media Awards regional/community reporter of the year.
