Lower Hutt man Sunia To’ofohe’s meth stash leads to 14-year prison sentence

Sunia Mano To’ofohe in the dock during his sentencing in the High Court at Wellington today. Photo / Mark Mitchell

A man was found with enough methamphetamine stashed in his bedroom to reportedly supply the Wellington region with more than two months’ worth of the drug.

The stockpile was so large that Sunia Mano To‘ofohe, a Comanchero gang member, failed to convince a judge it was to feed his own addiction.

It was discovered after To‘ofohe was stopped by police at a Levin service station in May 2023, driving back from Auckland.

The 45-year-old was unaware he was the subject of Operation Elusive, which investigated the supply of methamphetamine in Wellington.

Searching To‘ofohe’s Holden Commodore and later the bedroom at his Lower Hutt flat, police found 11kg of methamphetamine, $547,000 cash, a Ruger rifle and 57 rounds of ammunition. Police also found cocaine, GBL, 1,4-Butanediol, LSD, oxycodone and cannabis.

Scales, a money counter, plastic bags and methamphetamine pipes were additionally retrieved from the property.

At his trial in February, the jury heard To‘ofohe’s bedroom was so crammed, it took police all night to search it, with extra staff called in to help.

To‘ofohe was convicted of 14 charges, including possessing methamphetamine, cocaine, oxycodone, LSD, GBL and 1,4-Butanediol for supply, possession of cannabis for sale, unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition and supplying methamphetamine.

Today, To‘ofohe was sentenced in the High Court at Wellington by Justice Cheryl Gwyn.

Sunia Mano To’ofohe, pictured at sentencing in the High Court at Wellington today, was estimated by police to possessed 24.1kg of methamphetamine at one point. Photo / Mark Mitchell

She said police estimated the 11kg of methamphetamine found in To‘ofohe’s bedroom would have supplied the Wellington region for 9.5 weeks.

The judge said police also estimated that at one point, To’ohohe had possessed 24.1kg of the drug, which his lawyer Keith Jefferies didn’t dispute.

To‘ofohe maintained he was unjustly charged and convicted, and claimed he was holding the drugs for someone else.

In sentencing, Justice Gwyn said she had to decide what role To‘ofohe played in the operation.

Crown prosecutor Tim Bain submitted To‘ofohe had a leading role, noting the sheer scale of the methamphetamine and drugs involved went well beyond feeding a personal drug habit.

There was a clear expectation of profit, with To‘ofohe texting about how much money he was making. But Bain said To‘ofohe’s plans were never realised, because after texting someone saying he’d paid off a million-dollar debt, police had intervened before he could start making a profit.

Encrypted messages found on To‘ofohe’s phones showed he was able to supply drugs, without demanding immediate payment, Bain said.

And there was clearly a financial benefit, with designer sneakers and bags found in his bedroom. A forensic analysis of To‘ofohe’s spending showed he spent $386,000 on online gambling while unemployed, Bain said.

But Jefferies argued there was no conclusive evidence his client had a leading role, with no evidence of a commercial operation and the encrypted messages were to his client‘s girlfriends and friends.

Jefferies said his client had a gambling problem, which had spiralled out of control.

To‘ofohe kept the drugs in an unlocked room in a flat he shared with others and the assets he had weren’t significant for a man of his age.

Justice Gwyn found To‘ohohe had a significant, but not a leading, role in the operation.

But she didn’t accept To‘ofohe’s claims he was holding the drugs for someone else. Given the quantities of drugs and money involved, as well as the equipment police had seized, it was clearly a commercial operation, she said.

Justice Gwyn said although the structure of the operation wasn’t clear, there was no evidence this was a gang drug-dealing operation run by the Comancheros. While she acknowledged it was a large-scale operation, it wasn’t particularly sophisticated.

Turning to the issue of To‘ofohe’s addiction, Justice Gwyn said she was persuaded by the alcohol and drug report that To‘ofohe had a drug addiction.

The court heard To‘ofohe had been working but quit his job just before Covid to move to Auckland. But the Covid lockdowns had left him stranded in Hamilton and once they’d been lifted, he’d returned to Wellington.

In the year leading up to his arrest, he felt depressed, socially isolated and had become reliant on methamphetamine.

He said he was using 1-2g a day, requiring $2000 a week to fund his addiction.

But Justice Gwyn was sceptical about To‘ofohe’s claims around methamphetamine use, noting the amount police seized went well beyond feeding an individual’s addiction.

She accepted that while there was evidence of addiction, it was not the sole motivation for To‘ofohe’s offending and she granted a 5% discount for it.

She also allowed a 10% discount for personal factors, well short of the 35% Jefferies had asked for.

Adopting a starting point of 18 years’ jail and adding six months for the firearm charge, and after taking into account personal factors and the time To‘ofohe had spent on electronically monitored bail, Justice Gwyn reached an end sentence of 14 years and 10 months’ jail.

She declined to impose a minimum period of imprisonment, which the Crown had sought.

The judge said To‘ofohe was at the stage in his drug recovery journey that, with the right support, he might be able to put himself on a different path. She was also mindful of his young children and his desire to be a part of their lives.

Catherine Hutton is an Open Justice reporter, based in Wellington. She has worked as a journalist for 20 years, including at the Waikato Times and RNZ. Most recently she was working as a media adviser at the Ministry of Justice.