NZ crime in 2025: Gangs, drugs, and a Minister for Mafias? – The Front Page

The Front Page delves into crime in 2025.

Crime has always littered New Zealand headlines – and 2025 was no different.

The Front Page delved into the deep underworld of drugs, gangs, a major police scandal and the end of a near-four-year Marokopa saga.

Here’s what we found.

New Zealand’s underworld

There are more than 9000 gang members in New Zealand and thousands more associates.

The coalition Government from the get-go promised a crackdown on gangs – it has banned gang insignia in public, handed police greater powers, and created laws to disrupt get-togethers. But is that enough?

Jared Savage has been a journalist at the NZ Herald for about 20 years, with a focus on organised crime.

His latest book, Underworld, is the third in a series he’s released since 2020. The latest instalment delves deeper into our country’s dark underbelly of gangs, guns, drugs and money – lots and lots of money.

Today on The Front Page, Savage joins us to discuss the rising threat of organised crime in New Zealand.

Minister of Mafias?

The Government was urged to create a new ministerial portfolio to focus on organised crime.

It’s the “number one” threat to our national security, and as such, there should be a Government minister put in charge of tackling it. That’s according to a report from experts advising the coalition.

In recent years, there have been record busts at the border, as global crime syndicates – including Mexican cartels and outlaw bikie gangs – have targeted New Zealand as a small, but lucrative, market.

So why are we losing the fight against drugs and organised crime? And what can be done to help tackle the issue?

The advisory group’s chairman and Meridith Connell criminal prosecutor Steve Symon joined The Front Page to discuss how New Zealand might appoint a Minister of Mafias.

Inside New Zealand’s prisons

In October, The Front Page delved into what is driving the prison system’s “crisis”.

Last year there was a record-breaking number of assaults on staff, almost double that of seven years ago.

There were also more than 1500 prisoner-on-prisoner attacks – the highest annual figure on record.

All of this comes with overcrowding, tight budgets and a growing gang and meth problem.

NZ Herald senior reporter Derek Cheng joined us to dive into the numbers.

Jevon McSkimming

In November, it was revealed that police ignored sex allegations against a former top cop and instead prosecuted a woman for “revenge emails”.

The woman had sent hundreds of emails accusing former Deputy Police Commissioner Jevon McSkimming of being a sexual predator.

The police watchdog released a scathing 135-page report into how the allegations were treated and how the “ambitions of a senior police officer were put above the interests of a vulnerable woman”.

During the course of the investigation, detectives discovered McSkimming had used his work devices to search for pornography, including bestiality and child sex exploitation material, for at least five years.

The 52-year-old resigned in disgrace and was later charged with possession of objectionable material.

The Front Page spoke to Help Auckland executive director Kathryn McPhillips about how to support anyone who has experienced sexual abuse, and survivor advocate Louise Nicholas.

Drugs and weapons on Facebook marketplace

You might look at Facebook Marketplace for a new couch, lamp or rug.

But what about class A drugs? Or how about a ghost gun?

A Herald investigation revealed at least 56 listings were circulating on the site offering magic mushrooms, cannabis and, in one case, LSD across the North Island and the top of the South.

And that could just be the tip of the iceberg of illicit sales on social media.

NZ Herald senior investigative reporter Michael Morrah joined The Front Page in July to discuss how we get on top of this trend.

Marokopa search

In September, in the early hours of a Monday morning, a man police were hunting for nearly four years was shot and killed in a stand-off on a rural Waikato road.

That man was Tom Phillips, who in December 2021 vanished into the Marokopa bush with his three children.

There had been numerous sightings over the years of the fugitive father. The last was in August when he and another person believed to be one of his children were seen on CCTV breaking into a Piopio superette.

The Front Page travelled to King Country and spoke to Waitomo District Mayor John Robertson about how the community has fared and what we can learn from the ordeal.

The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald, available to listen to every weekday from 5am. The podcast is presented by Chelsea Daniels, an Auckland-based journalist with a background in world news and crime/justice reporting who joined NZME in 2016.

You can follow the podcast at iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.