Members of the Comancheros Motorcycle Club filmed themselves doing a haka from a 'supermax facility'. Video / Comancheros MC NZ via YouTube
An international outlaw motorcycle club has pulled off an ambitious power play in the Auckland underworld by poaching key members of another gang and expanding into their rival’s territory.
Up to six members of the King Cobras have “patched over” to establish a chapter of the Comancheros in central Auckland,which has long been considered the turf of the “KCs”.
The brazen expansion by the ambitious newcomers has the potential to inflame tensions in an already volatile gang scene as the King Cobras, one of the oldest gangs in Auckland, have a reputation for not backing down.
The Comancheros are an Australian motorcycle club which established a chapter in New Zealand six years ago when a small, but influential, group were deported as “501s” by Australian authorities.
The new central Auckland chapter of the notorious international outlaw gang the Comanchero Motorcycle Club (CMC) announced their arrival with this post on a private social media page, shared widely in the underworld. The ACCA acronym features in many Comanchero tattoos, clothing items and social media posts - the pledge stands for "Always Comancheros, Comancheros Always". The 1% denotes outlaw motorcycle clubs, who embrace the term "one percenters" alluding to a comment by a former president of the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) who said 99 percent of riders were law-biding while the remainder were outlaws.
Their arrival led to a radical shift within the criminal underworld, with far larger importations of methamphetamine and cocaine, as well as violent conflict between gangs such as tit-for-tat shootings and arson.
Since then, detectives in the National Organised Crime Group have relentlessly targeted the Comancheros in a series of covert investigations into money laundering or large-scale drug offending.
Even though most of their founding members are currently in prison, or deported back to Australia in one case, the “Comos” have kept growing in size and influence.
Social media has been one of their most effective recruiting tools.
They are one of a number of gangs who have taken to posting content online to portray their strength in numbers, flaunt their wealth, or poke fun at law enforcement.
Since then, the Comancheros have expanded into the Waikato by recruiting high-ranking members of the Mongrel Mob, and the South Island when the entire Rebels chapter in Christchurch “patched over” last year.
There is also a “Southside” chapter based in Manukau.
Now there is a branch in central Auckland. Earlier this month, a photograph of more than 20 Comanchero members and associates was posted online. The image referenced a central Auckland chapter and, among other gang slogans, was captioned: “Welcome to the Brotherhood”.
Among the newly minted Comancheros, although not in the photo, is a senior King Cobra, who was arrested earlier this year on serious methamphetamine dealing charges.
It’s believed up to five other KCs have patched over with him.
While there have been no acts of retribution so far, the defection of the King Cobras and the expansion of the Comancheros into their territory will undoubtedly ratchet up tensions in the gang world.
One of the oldest gangs in New Zealand, the King Cobras emerged from Ponsonby and Grey Lynn (prior to the gentrification of the suburbs) amid poverty and the harsh Dawn Raid policies of the government.
In recent years, the KCs have taken a dim view of anyone encroaching on their traditional stronghold in central Auckland, as well as Māngere.
In 2022, a gig by several Aussie rappers at a Karangahape Rd venue was attended by rival gangs, including the Rebels motorcycle club.
In response, members of the King Cobras and their allies arrived en masse and a large brawl broke out.
An image taken from a video posted on YouTube by the Comancheros motorcycle gang following a national ride in 2023.
The year before, a feud broke out between a new Māngere Rebels chapter and the KCs who had long controlled the area. There were several shootings and firebombings before a police crackdown and a slew of arrests brought the violence to an end.
Those recent turf battles in Auckland are an example of an undesirable shift in the criminal underworld.
While New Zealand criminals have always carried firearms, the arrival of the Australian gangs challenged the established pecking order, leading to both an escalation in gang membership - as everyone recruited to bolster their numbers - and the inevitable conflict.
The likes of the Comancheros and Mongols, another Australian gang, while having fewer numbers, had no fear of the longstanding motorcycle clubs in New Zealand.
In particular, the Mongols were involved in shooting of rival gang houses in Tauranga, as well as an ongoing feud with the Head Hunters, a once dominant force in the gang world.
And in recent weeks, there have been several skirmishes after a member of the Head Hunters was charged with murder of Texas Doctor, a patched Rebel.
Police have tried to downplay the tensions between the two gangs, saying the shooting of Doctor was the latest in an alleged ongoing feud between members of individual families.
Nevertheless, an already stretched police force has dedicated significant resources to investigate the increase in gang-related crimes in recent years.
Gangs were also a topic of debate in last year’s election, with the new National-led coalition Government promising to pass anti-gang laws such as patch bans.
Jared Savage covers crime and justice issues, with a particular interest in organised crime. He joined the Herald in 2006 and has won a dozen journalism awards in that time, including twice being named Reporter of the Year. He is also the author of Gangland and Gangster’s Paradise.
George Block is an Auckland-based reporter with a focus on police, the courts, prisons and defence. He joined the Herald in 2022 and has previously worked at Stuff in Auckland and the Otago Daily Times in Dunedin.
