A notorious member of the Comancheros outlaw motorcycle gang masterminded a plot to smuggle nearly 200kg of methamphetamine through the border while serving a long prison sentence.
Operation Brewer, a covert investigation by police and Customs, discovered 199kg of the drug ingeniously concealed inside four wheat thresher machines imported from Dubai into New Zealand in June 2023.
The shipment was delivered to a rural Auckland address where detectives raided the property as four men, aged 18 to 28, were caught allegedly dismantling the machinery to find the drugs.
Two other men were arrested in Auckland but the raids were kept quiet.
Operation Brewer ran for another three months as investigators from the National Organised Crime Group (NOCG) tried to identify the ringleaders of the syndicate.
Three men were charged in September 2023 as the “alleged organisers and facilitators of the import”, according to a police press release.
The trio were inmates at Rimutaka Prison at the time of the offending, which again raises serious concerns about the apparent ease that prisoners can access cellphones while in custody.
Two of the inmates have now pleaded guilty to importing the 199kg of meth, as well as other drug and organised crime offences, the Herald can reveal.
The crucial evidence in Operation Brewer was obtained from a number of cellphones seized by NOCG detectives.
Downloaded on many of the confiscated devices was an encrypted messaging app called Threema, which is a popular method of communicating in the criminal underworld.
Threema does not require a phone number or email address for registration, which anonymises the user to a degree.
Instead, Threema users identify each other by nickname and effectively create a personal brand.
“This can be important… as over time a certain nickname may garner notoriety, or be a calling card that others remember you by,” according to a police summary of Operation Brewer.
After seizing numerous phones in different NOCG investigations, and then cracking the encryption, detectives discovered multiple Threema conversations involving someone nicknamed ‘Plata o Plomo’.
Spanish for “silver or lead”, the phrase was made famous by the Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar who would offer government officials and law enforcement the choice of taking a bribe (silver) or a murder contract (lead).
It was apparent from the intercepted Threema conversations, police said, that ‘Plata o Plomo’ was a significant organised crime figure in New Zealand and “revered in the criminal underworld”.
He appeared in the Auckland District Court last week and pleaded guilty to importing 199kg of methamphetamine, participating in an organised criminal group, as well as other drug charges.
‘Plata o Plomo’ continues to have name suppression but the Herald can reveal he is a member of the Comancheros outlaw motorcycle gang.
He is currently in prison serving a long sentence for a previous importation of a significant amount of methamphetamine.
A second inmate charged in Operation Brewer, also a Comanchero, had earlier pleaded guilty to importing the 199kg of methamphetamine and will be sentenced in December.
Both men used smuggled cellphones to give instructions on the Threema app to their crew, outside the prison walls, who were allegedly caught dismantling the thresher machines to remove the drugs inside.
The third prison inmate has pleaded not guilty to the charges and will stand trial in July.
The Comancheros are an Australian motorcycle club that established a chapter in New Zealand six years ago when a small but influential group were deported as “501s” by Australian authorities.
Their arrival led to a radical shift in the criminal underworld, despite police targeting senior members of the gang for drug dealing and money laundering.
The police recently unveiled a series of linked covert operations over the past three years, including Operation Brewer and a money-laundering investigation in which alleged criminal profits were used to buy properties on behalf of the gang.
Last month, the Herald revealed the most significant purchase was a three-storey home in Half Moon Bay for $3.8m which has now been restrained under the criminal proceeds law.
As well as proving the ability of the Comancheros to smuggle a significant amount of drugs into New Zealand, Operation Brewer has exposed the apparent ease with which prisoners can access cellphones while in custody.
A spokesperson for the Department of Corrections previously declined to answer questions about the case as the matter was before the courts.
Speaking to the wider issue of contraband, such as cellphones, the spokesperson said the safety and security of Corrections’ sites, staff and prisoners is a “top priority”.
Contraband includes alcohol, communication devices, drugs, drug paraphernalia, tattoo equipment, tobacco, weapons and other items that prisoners could use in inappropriate ways.
“Some prisoners go to extreme and elaborate lengths to introduce contraband into prison. Contraband may be concealed on a prisoner’s body when they come into the prison, posted in with mail or property, thrown over perimeter fencing, or smuggled into the prison by visitors,” the spokesperson said.
“Sometimes prisoners place a significant amount of pressure on their partners, friends or associates to risk attempting to bring contraband into prison for them.”
Corrections staff worked hard to stop contraband, the spokesperson said, as well as trying to “stay one step ahead” of any new methods.
This included searching people and vehicles entering prison grounds, using scanners and x-ray machines at entry points, “extensive” perimeter security, camera surveillance in visiting rooms, checking mail, monitoring of phone calls, sniffer dogs and banning visitors.
While prison authorities around the world struggle with all manner of contraband, smuggled cellphones are frequently found on prisoners in New Zealand and present an ongoing challenge for Corrections.
The Herald has previously revealed inmates were posting videos on popular social media apps like TikTok, prompting concerns from law enforcement that the posts glamourise a life of crime.
Jared Savage covers crime and justice issues, with a particular interest in organised crime. He joined the Herald in 2006 and has won a dozen journalism awards in that time, including twice being named Reporter of the Year. He is also the author of Gangland and Gangster’s Paradise.
George Block is an Auckland-based reporter with a focus on police, the courts, prisons and defence. He joined the Herald in 2022 and has previously worked at Stuff in Auckland and the Otago Daily Times in Dunedin.
Glen Wright continues to deny the offending and claims the victims conspired against him.