Police have dealt a "significant blow" to the Hells Angels' Whanganui chapter today, charging 19 linked to the gang, including key personnel.
Nineteen “significant players” in the Whanganui chapter of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club are facing a collective 72 charges after a major police operation.
Seventeen men and two women have been charged. Among those arrested are the Whanganui chapter’s president, vice-president and sergeant-at-arms.
The charges include supplying methamphetamine, importingand supplying cocaine and money laundering.
Operation Round Up began in March 2024 and involved staff from several different workgroups across the district.
Police said it was a “huge blow to their stranglehold in the area”.
Central District crime manager Detective Inspector Craig Sheridan (left) and Whanganui Police area commander Inspector Neil Forlong. Photo / Fin Ocheduszko Brown
Central District crime manager Detective Inspector Craig Sheridan and Whanganui area commander Inspector Neil Forlong outlined the operation at a media stand-up outside the Whanganui Police Station on Tuesday.
Sheridan said 30 search warrants were carried out on Tuesday across the North Island in Whanganui, Palmerston North, Hastings and Auckland, with assistance from the armed offenders squad and the special tactics group.
Nearly $2.5 million worth of assets were seized including five firearms, a brick of cocaine, 10 ounces (280g) of methamphetamine and $7000 cash.
Vehicles are among the items seized. Photo / NZ Police
Police Central’s asset recovery unit restrained four motorcycles, five vehicles, three properties, two jet skis and about $108,000 in cash.
Sheridan said the 16-month operation involved many hours and planning, resources and work by police staff to achieve the final result.
It involved a mixture of overt (open) and covert (hidden) activity.
Sheridan said the operation was a significant blow to the chapter and a blow to the peddling of meth in the community.
Police could not rule out further arrests and charges.
“Police will continue to use all our available tools to disrupt criminal organisations who profit from this offending and from the harm caused by illicit drugs in the community,” Sheridan said.
Police say the gang was "well-entrenched" in the community. Photo / NZ Police
Forlong said the chapter had become “well-entrenched” in the Whanganui community after establishing in 1992.
He said methamphetamine was still a huge problem in Whanganui.
“While wastewater results show usage has increased across the country year-on-year, we have consistently had levels well above our population base.
“This creates immense social harm and with that brings issues like addiction, mental health concerns, family harm and further criminal activities, such as shoplifting.”
A significant portion of police time and resources went towards dealing with meth and its consequences, Forlong said.
Local iwi leadership had suggested a meth harm reduction programme in Whanganui that police would be supportive of.
Forlong said the termination of the operation was a significant day for Whanganui and its people.
“Police will continue to target those who commit illegal activities and whose actions wreak havoc on the people in the community,” he said.
“Our role, however, is also to support people who have been affected by crime by preventing the harm in the first place and ensuring that they get all the support they need.”
One of the vehicles seized in the operation. Photo / NZ Police
“Whanganui Police are committed to fighting crime and making sure our city is safe,” he said.
“What this says is it doesn’t matter how big you are, how well-organised you are, how internationally resourced you are, you are not going to get away with it in New Zealand.”
Whanganui MP Carl Bates was pleased with the outcome.
“I really want to acknowledge the work of local police and the police that have come in to support the operation,” Bates said.
“It’s great to have such a strong focus on maintaining law and order in our city.”
All those arrested appeared in court on Tuesday or will appear in the coming days, in Whanganui, Palmerston North, Hastings and Tāmaki Makaurau.
