Senior gang members arrested after global sting targeting organised crime
Senior members of the Mongrel Mob, Head Hunters and Comancheros gangs have been arrested in a massive police operation targeting organised crime.
All up, the New Zealand arm of the operation, codenamed Operation Trojan Shield, netted 35 people across the North Island, who are facing 900 charges.
They have been accused of drug dealing and money laundering and will appear in courts in Auckland and Hamilton on Tuesday.
Right on cue, just after a damning investigation into the feckless leadership inside the organised crime unit, Jacinda manages to squeeze Australia for some FBI intel to help counter the 501 syndicate crime spree Scott Morrison has unleashed upon NZ.
One of the problems NZ has had in tackling the 501s has been that America wants information on South American cartels. The 501s have Cartel contacts for meth that is cheaper and purer than the domestic gangs can access so the intelligence was going up to the NSA rather than being actionable in NZ.
This was a tad problematic as most NZ taxpayers would expect actionable intel against dangerous meth dealers rather than that information being simply passed along to the Americans.
So after complaining we had access to a sting operation run by the FBI to con organized crime syndicates into believing they had an encryption system Police couldn’t hack when in reality they were reading in real time.
The actual amount of drugs and cash seized in NZ suggests we’ve been thrown the off cuts of that intel. $1million in cash has been found and 9kgs of meth, but seeing as NZers spend $1.4m on meth each day and consume 16kg of meth a week, this is pretty small fry.
This is more to look like something is being done rather than actually dealing with the why it’s happening.
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A classic boomer button push by the PM? “Jacinda tough on gangs” can’t hurt her reputation with the voters I guess. But it does nothing about the 501 situation and any ANZAC spirit was extinguished years ago.
Be better for the working class if Jacinda was tough on a mega state house build, tough on retiring WINZ/MSD and running a basic income through IRD, and tough on Dairy polluting the shit out of this country.
p.s. that is one creepy photo of Jacinda getting that close to the religious nutter, should have kneed him in the nuts while she had the chance!
Jacinda manages to squeeze Australia for some FBI intel to help counter the 501 syndicate crime spree Scott Morrison has unleashed upon NZ.
Adern should never had to ask for help in dealing with a virus unleashed on us with no antidote.
Morrison and his hard edged domestic policy has delivered us a massive problem that we are not equipped to deal with and we allowed to happen because we are weak as water in standing up to foreign threats like this which will have huge consequences in the years ahead.
I am more concerned about this contagion than Covid or the Chinese !!!!
This gang problem will allow the Nasty Natz to capitalise on the violence and intimidation that is waiting to be unleashed in a quiet , leafy neighbourhood and shopping mall near you.
“The actual amount of drugs and cash seized in NZ suggests we’ve been thrown the off cuts of that intel. $1million in cash has been found and 9kgs of meth, but seeing as NZers spend $1.4m on meth each day and consume 16kg of meth a week, this is pretty small fry.
This is more to look like something is being done rather than actually dealing with the why it’s happening.”
Spot on Bomber. A whole lot of Sweet Fuck All.
Lot of noise to make the NZ Police look like they’re winning.
Do we really consume 16kg of Meth a week???
Now that is scary.
Mongrel Mob senior leaders working with Aussie bikie gangs- shock horror. I thought domestic gangs were the “good” guys?
These types of operations take years to investigate and execute – building solid cases to ensure convictions. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are further terminations and arrests in the near future.
It wouldn’t have been something whipped up in the last couple of weeks/months for political window dressing.
wrong Gordo. From the amount of cash and illicit drugs seized ,this is a piss in a bucket already full of cold water. We are using 16kg of Meth a week Gordo. ( based on Prof Wilkins wastewater research I presume)
Do the sums. This is window dressing. Profitable for the legal fraternity . Chest thumping for the police. Same same change of the guard for the dealers. Has everyone forgotten the 500kg bust on 90 mile beach NOW that’s what amounts to an effective meth bust which would NEVER have happened if it had been left up to the NZ police.
It’s not so much the amounts or the value being seized here- look at the bigger picture.
Arrests of senior members/leaders of these organisations, connecting these figures to illicit activity and having sufficient information to arrest is the real win here- start dismantling these organisations from the top down. For a long time there was a view that the leaders were untouchable but the tide is turning slowly- the NZ president of the Commancheros is already locked up. It’s the leaders who have connections offshore with suppliers- cartels don’t deal with any low level gang banger off the street.
Sure a new leader will step up for now but if you keep lopping off the head of a snake you’ll eventually win the battle or at least make a significant impact.
The value of assets and drugs seized is the wrong piece to be focusing on.
Given the manner in which the FBI conducted the operation, it seems that there may be a defence of entrapment. That aside, isn’t there a case of FBI conspiracy to be made since the agency provided the means for gangs to plan and co-ordinate their offending.
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