Puk Kireka: High-profile mobster admits to dealing meth in prison

Poutawa "Puk" Kireka has admitted to supplying drugs in prison.

A high-profile gang member has admitted to dealing meth in prison, after being locked up over a year ago for kidnapping his partner and bashing a good Samaritan.

Poutawa “Puk” Kireka, who sports a distinctive red-and-black “Notorious” facial tattoo, has been in custody on remand since September last year.

On Thursday, Kireka, 36, appeared in Napier District Court and pleaded guilty to a string of charges, including supplying meth and possession of cannabis for sale, as well as unauthorised delivery of drugs into a prison, Stuff reported.

Authorities discovered he was using a cellphone hidden in his prison cell. During January and February 2023, police intercepted communications from that phone, which showed he was sending texts and making calls arranging for drugs to be delivered to the prison in order to sell them to other prisoners, Stuff reported.

Just over $4000 was transferred into a bank account of an associate, related to the drug dealing, and over $2000 in cash was dropped to that associate’s home.

Kireka is currently in jail awaiting sentencing later this month for kidnapping his partner and seriously assaulting a good Samaritan - a man aged in his 70s - in September last year. He has pleaded guilty to those charges.

Kireka, from Hawke’s Bay, will be sentenced on the drug charges at the same time as the assault and kidnapping matter.