New Zealand is naive to the threat of corruption posed by organised crime and must act urgently to prevent further infiltration of democratic institutions and borders, according to a group of experts advising the Government.
The independent panel recommended establishing a central authority to manage reporting and investigation of corruption, modernising out-of-date laws, longer prison sentences, and stronger vetting of employees in high-risk industries as part of a national anti-corruption strategy.
The advice is set out in a new report to Casey Costello, the Minister of Customs and associate Police Minister, which explains how New Zealand’s reputation as a country largely free from corruption is being undermined.
“Compromised police officers, immigration officials, and private sector employees in our ports and airports have facilitated drug smuggling, leaked sensitive information, and undermined the integrity of our border system,” the ministerial advisory group wrote.
“These vulnerabilities are not incidental - organised crime groups actively cultivate them…if left unchecked, this cycle will erode the integrity of New Zealand’s institutions and undermine our collective security.”
Chaired by a senior Crown prosecutor Steve Symon, the advisory group’s first report in March described the evolution of the organised crime environment in New Zealand, while a second report in April highlighted the substantial profits made by these groups.
A combination of those factors, as well as the “deteriorating situation” in neighbouring Pacific Island countries like Fiji and Tonga, had made New Zealand “more susceptible than ever to corruption”, according to the panel’s latest report.
“This is a real and increasing threat,” the ministerial group wrote to Costello.
Enforcement agencies told the expert panel that most significant interceptions of illicit drugs through ports and airports were planned as “rip-on, rip-off” jobs; where trusted insiders helped to retrieve concealed shipments before Customs could inspect them.
The local anecdotal evidence was consistent with a soon-to-be-published global report which estimated that 70% of maritime seizures worldwide involved links to trusted insiders, according to the ministerial advisory group.
The case of Sese Vimahi was used as an illustration.
As first revealed by the Herald, Vimahi was a senior Air New Zealand baggage handler who recruited a group of colleagues to divert a suitcase before it could be screened by security.
There was nearly 20kg of methamphetamine inside.
Vimahi was arrested and fired by Air New Zealand.
But while on bail, Vimahi used his connections in Auckland airport to recruit a new team of baggage handlers to continue importing drugs into the country.
In another example, a supervisor at the Ports of Auckland was caught after a shipping container flagged for inspection disappeared from the wharves on the back of a truck in the middle of the night.
The container was linked to a drug shipment destined for the Mongols motorcycle gang and $90,000 was found in a shoebox at the supervisor’s home.
“When individuals in border security, customs, or immigration are compromised, criminal groups can exploit these weak points to smuggle drugs, weapons, other illicit goods, and people with minimal detection,” the advisory group wrote to Costello.
“Bribery, coercion and cronyism can transform ports, airports, and checkpoints into open channels.”
In the context of organised crime, the ministerial group defined corruption as the abuse of access or authority to meet the objectives of criminal networks - giving access to protection, sensitive information and the ability to act with impunity.
This was particularly concerning because of New Zealand’s ties with our closest neighbours in the Pacific region.
As with New Zealand, for a long time the Pacific Islands were largely seen as immune from high levels of international organised crime due to their remoteness. This is no longer the case.
Drug cartels from the Americas, gangs from New Zealand and Australia, as well as Asian criminal networks are all increasing their involvement in the Pacific, according to the ministerial group.
This disturbing development had been accelerated by the arrival of deportees from Australia, New Zealand and the United States, leading to gangs such as the Rebels, the Mongrel Mob, and the Comancheros establishing chapters in the Pacific.
Fiji, in particular, had emerged as a key transit point for major drug shipments.
At the beginning of last year, nearly 5 tonnes of methamphetamine was found in two houses in Nadi, close to Fiji’s main international airport
The following month, a senior official at the National Reserve Bank of Tonga was arrested when police seized a total of 15kg of methamphetamine from his family home and office.
“While the direct consequences for Pacific nationals of organised crime is already appearing - the influx of drugs, for example - there is a real risk the nurturing corruption environment will lead to organised crime groups becoming entrenched and dominating all aspects of society to the point where it comes impossible to stop a series of narco-states being established on New Zealand’s doorstep,” the ministerial group wrote.
“New Zealand, therefore, not only has a moral obligation to assist its Pacific neighbours, but a very practical reason to do so.”
Corrupt insiders were a key strategic asset for organised crime groups, the expert panel said, so deterring corruption was arguably the best preventative measure that New Zealand could take.
However, the advisory group warned Costello New Zealand was “poorly prepared” to tackle the growing threat of corruption.
To vividly illustrate the point, New Zealand is the only member of the Five Eyes security arrangement that does not have a whole-of-government strategy to focus on industries considered at high-risk of corruption by organised crime.
The lack of a national strategy limits the visibility of emerging corruption trends, and fails to promote public sector integrity through preventative measures such as education, vetting and reporting mechanisms, the advisory group wrote to Costello.
“Without a unified strategy, efforts are fragmented across various agencies, leading to limits in coordination, inconsistent standards, no shared framework for intelligence, reporting, investigation or accountability.”
The ministerial group also recommended stricter vetting requirements for employees working in high-risk industries, such as anyone working in the import or export supply chains, law and regulatory enforcement, immigration advisors, banks and telecommunication providers.
The legal definition of corruption and bribery in the Crimes Act were also out-of-date, according to the expert panel.
“We have heard from a number of officials that the current Crimes Act offences relating to corruption are outdated and do not reflect the modern context.
“The current corruption offences only apply to acts done or omitted by an official in their ‘official capacity’. However, in the case of a person accessing sensitive information, for example on their day off, there may be arguments about whether it has been done in their ‘official capacity’. But it is still a corrupt act.”
The maximum penalty of seven years in prison may also need to be increased to reflect the seriousness of the crimes, the expert group recommended.
To manage these necessary anti-corruption changes in the public and private sector, the advisory group recommended the establishment of a central authority to receive whistleblower complaints and manage investigations.
This could be an entirely new entity, similar to Australia’s National Anti-Corruption Commission, or the responsibilities could be assumed by a larger agency like the Public Service Commission, New Zealand Police or the Serious Fraud Office.
The advisory group will keep making recommendations to Costello on a different organised crime topic each month, with a final report to be published in September.
But it has already warned the coalition government that bold changes are needed urgently as New Zealand was “losing the fight” against transnational organised crime, vividly illustrated by how the country was flooded with methamphetamine.
Despite more drugs being seized than ever before, the consumption of methamphetamine more than doubled in 2024 to the highest levels recorded in national wastewater testing.
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, Gangster’s Paradise and Underworld.
Emergency services were called to the Central Otago town at 7.20pm last night.