Global manhunt underway for Comancheros member Shane Ngakuru, identified in FBI fake apps sting

A global manhunt is underway for a New Zealand gangster alleged to be a key player in dealing encrypted phones which the FBI secretly controlled and eventually used to take down hundreds of organised crime figures around the world.

Shane Ngakuru was last seen in Phuket, Thailand, but is understood to have fled. Photo / Supplied

And for the first time, the Herald can publish a photograph of Shane Ellwood Ngakuru – a high-ranking member of the Comancheros MC gang – on the run from the FBI and New Zealand Police.

The 42-year-old Ngakuru is a cousin of Duax Hohepa Ngakuru, the "international commander" of the Comancheros allegedly behind some of the world's biggest drug deals and reportedly controlling business from Turkey under aliases including Negotiator, Bullseye, Chuck Norris and El Mito (The Myth).

Global crime-fighting agencies launched coordinated raids across 16 countries, including New Zealand, in June last year and made more than 800 arrests, and seized tons of drugs, and uncovered millions in cash, after secretly spying on organised crime through a secret FBI-developed phone app.

Shane Ngakuru was identified in US court documents after the "sting of the century" Operation Trojan Shield as being among a select group of criminals who distributed the Anom communication devices.

The FBI alleged that he took payments for the $2000 six-month subscription fees.

A pile of cash seized by police after Operation Trojan Shield. Photo / File

Ngakuru was last believed to be living on the Thai party island of Phuket and was considered a fugitive by the FBI. New Zealand has no extradition treaty with Thailand.

But Detective Superintendent Greg Williams of the NZ Police national organised crime group told the Herald that they now believe Ngakuru has left Phuket.

His whereabouts remain "unknown" but Williams confirmed that New Zealand Police has issued a warrant for his arrest.

A "red notice" has also been issued – a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person "pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action".

Duax Hohepa Ngakuru was born in Rotorua and rose to the top of the Australian Comancheros gang. Photo / Daily Telegraph

While wanted to face allegations in the US laid under the US anti-racketeering legislation, Ngakuru also faces criminal proceedings in New Zealand.

Charges of importing methamphetamine, cocaine and MDMA into New Zealand, along with charges of drug conspiracy, money laundering and participating in an organised criminal group, were laid at Hamilton District Court last year.

It's alleged that Ngakuru was based in Thailand to act as a fixer, or "super-facilitator", between the Comancheros and organised Asian crime syndicates.

Intelligence reports handed to NZ Police tell of transnational drug syndicates using super-facilitators to foster a successful methamphetamine supply chain.

"A super-facilitator has links to a global network of manufacturers and supply and distribution chains to successfully import methamphetamine to New Zealand," says a police report, Methamphetamine in New Zealand: What is currently known about the harm it causes, which was circulated last year.

"The super-facilitator is usually based offshore and is never in direct contact with the shipment."

There is evidence of others like Ngakuru setting up shop around the Pacific, Mexico and South America. In 2014, kickboxer Peter Leaitua was arrested in Colombia on drug trafficking charges while other links crop up every time a major shipment is busted.

"We've got them all around the world. And they are not there for a holiday," Customs NZ investigations manager Bruce Berry said during a Herald on Sunday investigation into how methamphetamine was coming into New Zealand from the Golden Triangle region.