Young girls with gang links have been extorting hundreds of dollars from fellow pupils at a Wellington intermediate school.
Two 12-year-old girls threatened two fellow year eight pupils that the Dark Syde youth gang - linked to Wellington Black Power - would beat up their families if the girls did not pay them hundreds of dollars.
Their terrified victims - both also 12 - handed over $1600 in a matter of weeks before another friend finally told teachers.
The emergence of youth gangs such as the Dark Syde and the Strathmore 44s prompted police to launch a special operation and beef up their presence in the central city last month.
A senior detective said at the time the Dark Syde were well-known criminals. "They're the bad kids, and they've been bad for a long time."
The child criminals model themselves on South Central Los Angeles gangsters, wearing baggy jeans, caps, hoodies and bandanas.
A series of customs and police raids in the Wellington area last week - netting drugs, weapons, stolen property and cash - led to the arrest of several Dark Syders or associates.
The father of one of the latest extortion victims said the pair had been befriended at the start of the school year because they were seen as belonging to "rich" families. Both families owned businesses.
His daughter said she started getting demands for money soon after.
"I believed her," the daughter said. "She said if I didn't give her the money the Dark Syde was going to beat me and [the other victim up] and then our families."
The girl withdrew $300 she had in her savings account to pay her tormentor. But a fortnight later, there was another demand.
"She kept threatening us. My friend sold her mobile phone the first time, but after that we had to steal the money from our families."
Both victims stole several hundred dollars from their families as their classmates demanded the money fortnightly. Neither family knew of the threats or what was happening.
But they noticed behavioural changes. Both girls became temperamental.
When the victims finally ran out of money to steal, two older girls - Dark Syde associates - came to the school and threatened them but then the friend told teachers, who contacted police.
Detective Senior Sergeant Simon Perry said all four offenders had been identified. The two 12-year-old offenders had been referred to Youth Aid. One had been expelled from the school and the other "dealt with internally". Both older girls would be prosecuted.
Police were treating the extortion "extremely seriously".
The father said his daughter could not walk from school to his business because of the fear of being beaten up.
- NZPA
Girls, 12, helping gangs in extortion racket
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