Two men have pleaded guilty to laundering hundreds of thousands of dollars in drug money by paying for luxury cars in cash.
The patched Comanchero member and an associate were arrested in a 2020 police sting that seized more than $650,000 worth of assets including five luxury cars, one of them a limited edition G-Class Mercedes Benz worth $275,000.
A third man, a car dealer, was also arrested.
Judge Nevin Dawson granted the two men, aged 35 and 37, interim name suppression at the Auckland District Court this morning.
A police investigation into the Comanchero motorcycle gang's money laundering operations, dubbed Operation Rider, began in late 2019 after another operation called Nova.
Police said the operation involved staff from the National Organised Crime Group and Northern Asset Recovery Unit.
Court documents show the men knew they were laundering cash made from dealings in Class A controlled drugs.
The first man, a patched Comanchero gang member, laundered nearly $100,000 over almost two years, used to pay a substantial portion of his weekly rent of $930.
He bought the limited-edition Mercedes Benz and also paid some $16,000 in cash for cosmetic surgery.
The second man, a media personality, laundered $420,000 mainly used to pay for four cars, an Audi, two BMWs and a Mercedes Benz.
A summary of facts showed the man laundered the cash, which he and the car dealer referred to as "noodles" by making part payments on the cars.
He asked the car dealer to keep them registered in under his business' name to hide the true ownership.
The cars were given to his partner and their father, and also a senior Comanchero member.
Another $100,000 was paid to a solicitor as a retainer for counsel fees for the man, who was facing active charges for being part of an organised crime group.
Both men were out on bail on other charges including money laundering related to Operation Nova at the time of these offences.
They were also found holding encrypted Ciphr phones, often used by higher-ranking gang members to avoid detection.
They remain on bail and are due to be sentenced on August 5.