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Senior members and associates of the Comancheros motorcycle gang have been arrested after a long-running covert investigation into alleged money laundering and drug importations.
Court documents show a high-ranking member of the gang appeared in the Auckland District Court on Wednesday morning and was charged with laundering $590,958,supplying methamphetamine, and conspiring with another person to import methamphetamine.
The Comanchero is also charged with participating in an organised criminal group with eight other patched members and associates of the gang over a two-year period, with the alleged objective of making money from supplying methamphetamine.
A police spokesperson confirmed the arrests but would not discuss any details.
“As the wider matter remains under investigation, police are unable to comment further at this stage.”
The latest police raids on the Comancheros comes a few weeks after the Herald revealed an influential leader in the notorious motorcycle gang was deported back to Australia.
Jarome Raymond Fonua, 29, was the secretary of the Comancheros gang, which grabbed a foothold in New Zealand in 2018 when senior members were deported from Australia on “good character” grounds.
One of the founding members of the New Zealand chapter, Fonua was arrested following Operation Nova, a covert investigation into the criminal activities of the Comanchero hierarchy.
Since then, the Comancheros have featured in a number of high-profile investigations into alleged large-scale drug importations and distribution.
Fonua is one of the few criminals forced to fly back across the Tasman compared to the thousands controversially deported in recent years from Australia as so-called “501s”; nicknamed after the section of immigration law used to remove people on “good character” grounds.
Operation Nova found methamphetamine hidden inside kitchen appliances.
Among this number was a smaller group of senior outlaw motorcycle club members, who then established chapters of their Australian gangs in New Zealand.
This has led to a radical shift within the criminal underworld, with far larger importations of methamphetamine and cocaine, as well as violent conflict between gangs such as tit-for-tat shootings and arson.
A stretched police force has been forced to dedicate significant resources to investigating these crimes, and gangs were also a topic of debate during the recent election.
After being slow to react, the previous Labour government passed legislation to give police new powers during gang conflict and target unexplained wealth of gang leaders.
The new National-led coalition Government has promised to crack down even harder with anti-gang laws, such as patch bans, within the first 100 days of taking office.
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.
