Operation Elusive: Sunia To’ofohe convicted on multiple drug charges

A jury in the High Court at Wellington has found Sunia Mano To’ofohe guilty of all but one of the 15 charges he faced. To'ofohe was charged in relation to Operation Elusive. Photo / NZ Police

A man accused of possessing 11kg of methamphetamine and large quantities of cash, has been found guilty on all but one of the charges he faced.

Sunia Mano To’ofohe has been on trial in the High Court at Wellington for the past week where he denied 15 charges, including possession of methamphetamine and other drugs for supply.

Today, after three-and-a-half hours of deliberation, the jury found To’ofohe guilty on all but one of the charges.

The 45-year-old truck driver was arrested by police at a Levin service station in May 2023 as part of Operation Elusive - which targeted a large drug-dealing operation.

His car was seized and during searches of it and the bedroom at his Lower Hutt flat, police found 11kg of methamphetamine, $600,000 in cash and 17 cellphones.

Summarising the opposing cases for the jury this morning, Justice Cheryl Gwyn said the Crown said these searches uncovered large quantities of drugs, not just methamphetamine, but also GBL, cocaine, cannabis, and Oxycodone.

There was also more than $600,000 in cash and a rifle found under the bed. Evidence of drugs was also found on To’ofohe’s phone.

Scales, a money counter, plastic bags, and methamphetamine pipes were also retrieved by the police.

Justice Gwyn said the Crown’s evidence, when considered together, showed To’ofohe was supplying drugs.

Throughout the seven-day trial the defence was critical of the police’s handling of the case.

Justice Gwyn said the defence maintained that police should have sorted and processed the exhibits at the scene, rather than bringing them back to Police National Headquarters in Wellington.

Rather than remove the exhibits, the defence said a guard should have been posted at the flat overnight and ESR called to examine the scene.

Justice Gwyn said the defence also argued the exhibits should also have shown the date and time they were seized.

The defence was also critical of the way the exhibits were stored and examined by police, including their failure to send all of the seized drugs to ESR for testing.

As a result To’ofohe’s lawyer Keith Jefferies told the jury they couldn’t be sure that the items tested by police and ESR were seized at the scene.

Justice Gwyn said Jefferies argued that his client’s lack of “bling” - cars, jewellery or watches - suggested To’ofohe was holding the drugs for someone else.

In response, Justice Gwyn said police explained that securing sites was done for situations such as murder scenes, where evidential material needed to be gathered.

With more than 1000 exhibits, police said it was easier to process them at a secure location, rather than at the Lower Hutt flat.

The Crown said there was no evidence the exhibits were accessed by someone who shouldn’t have had them. It argued that the criticism of the police case, wasn’t material.

To’ofohe was found guilty of three charges of possession of methamphetamine for supply, two charges of possessing Oxycodone for supply, possessing GBL, LSD, cocaine, and 1-4 Butanediol for supply.

He was also found guilty of possessing cannabis for sale, possession of a firearm, possession of ammunition, and two charges of supplying methamphetamine.

The jury found him not guilty of a charge of failing to assist in a search that related to police’s attempts to access To’ofohe’s phone.

To’ofohe was remanded in custody ahead of his sentencing in May.

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.