Gangs swagger with trouble in their wake

By PATRICK GOWER

They call themselves the KTs, the Bad Boy Killers and Horsepak.

They are the three street gangs found amid a melee at the Mangere town centre that ended with Sam Kini Tua face down in a pool of blood.

He died a day later.

A trail of another person's blood led 1.5km from where the homeless 43-year-old was found in a bus shelter, but was lost in a grass field.

Now police are looking to the gangs as they hunt the killer, with Detective Sergeant Neil Grimstone and his squad calling on young gang members "to fill in the gaps".

"They were at the forefront of the night's shenanigans, that's for sure," he said yesterday.

"But as far as the money shot goes, we are no closer to finding out what got Mr Tua."

There was also a stabbing and drunken disorder outside the popular nightspot The Apia Way after it closed early last Friday morning.

Mangere's shopping centre and carpark have been plagued by late-night drinking and violence for many years, with the street gangs usually on hand in their different permutations.

The KTs, short for the Kautama Brotherhood, are recognisable by the initials tattooed on their hands.

Their 20 or more members are largely Tongan, although not exclusively.

The Bad Boy Killers, also with about 20 members, have the same name as a popular group of boy-racers, but police are unsure if there is any link between the two.

Horsepak, with a dozen members, is the smallest of the three.

Their names may be different, but police say their modus operandi is the same: street crime, tagging, standovers, general disorder and the odd armed robbery.

Members are aged 16 to 22.

Similar street gangs exist in suburbs across Auckland, and have for many years. Boxer David Tua, one of Mangere's finest sons, roamed on their fringes as he grew up.

The gangs base themselves on racial, neighbourhood or school ties, with names such as the Blood Smoking Thugs, Tennessee Boys or Lazy but Crazy.

Members will typically crop up in brawls at sprawling parties and be involved in other serious crimes.

It is a global phenomenon, with gangs modelling themselves on the Bloods and Cripps of the American ghetto scene, made popular in movies, rap music and even PlayStation games - a game called Jet Grind Radio follows a street gang trying to establish itself in a city.

And they come and go in different guises, as members grow up, change their lifestyle or land in jail.

Mr Grimstone said he had come across the gangs many times investigating serious crimes in South Auckland, but said they had evolved little except in name and "staffing".

"They are nothing more than a disorganised rabble."

* Anyone with information about Sam Tua's murder should call 0800 THUMPED (0800 848-6733).