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Highly respected former police detective Brears Basham has died aged 82.
Basham led the investigation into the Mr Asia drug syndicate - a watershed case in New Zealand policing history
His work on the case - considered the first genuine organised crime ring in the country - had a lasting impact on policing in New Zealand.
The lead detective on the investigation into the infamous Mr Asia drug syndicate has been remembered as a “hugely respected man of high integrity” after his recent death.
Brears Neville Basham, 82, was on a cruise ship with his wife in Nova Scotia when he suffered a major stroke, andlater died of aspiration pneumonia in hospital.
His body was returned to New Zealand and his life celebrated at a funeral in West Auckland last weekend.
Basham joined the police in the 1970s and had a long career as a senior detective in Auckland.
The highlight was chasing a Kiwi criminal syndicate smuggling drugs into New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom.
The ringleader was Marty Johnstone, dubbed Mr Asia by the Auckland Star newspaper, who brought together a group of investors to import 450,000 “Buddha sticks” of cannabis into New Zealand on a ship sailing from Thailand.
Johnstone and his ruthless business partner Terry Clark made millions of dollars from the deal, then graduated to supplying uncut heroin to their network of dealers in Australia and New Zealand.
Their money making exploits - and a growing number of murders suspected linked to Clark - made the Mr Asia drug syndicate notorious in both countries.
Eventually, the international drug ring imploded when the mutilated body of Johnstone was found in a flooded quarry in England in 1979.
He had been shot, with his hands removed and his face beaten beyond recognition. Once Johnstone was identified, Basham was sent to the United Kingdom to help local police with the homicide inquiry.
Four men were charged with murder, including Terry Clark. He was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment, dying in prison in 1983.
Later immortalised in the Underbelly television series, the Mr Asia investigation is seen as a watershed moment in New Zealand policing history as the first genuine organised crime case in the country.
“He did a good job on that inquiry,” said Peter Mitford-Burgess, another senior retired detective who worked on the case.
“He took the lead on Mr Asia. He was a good worker, a good colleague, a good friend.”
File photograph of Terry Clark, also known as Alexander James Sinclair, who ordered the murder of his drug business partner Marty Johnstone. The execution led to the downfall of the Mr Asia drug syndicate. Photo / File
Stuart Basham said policing was in his older brother’s blood.
“Our grandfather was a police officer way back in the 1920s, and he wanted to be like him,” Basham said.
“He was always thorough and diligent, liked to cross his T’s and dot his I’s. But Brears never talked about his cases at home. I know he had some pretty exciting moments though.”
Other former police colleagues posted tributes to Basham online including Gavin Jones, a long time detective in Auckland who rose through the ranks to become an assistant commissioner.
“He is remembered as a hugely respected man of high integrity whose professionalism, patience and thorough approach to investigations during the ‘Mr Asia’ era had a profound and lasting impact on organised crime and drug offending in New Zealand.”
Basham grew up in Point Chevalier but spent most of his adult life on the same street in Blockhouse Bay, where he taught at the local intermediate school before joining the police.
He was also a long-serving coach of the West Auckland junior rugby team which competed in the annual Roller Mills tournaments.
He recently moved with his wife Anne to a retirement home in Kerikeri.
Jared Savage is an award-winning journalist who covers crime and justice issues, with a particular interest in organised crime. He joined the Herald in 2006, and is the author of Gangland and Gangster’s Paradise.
