A Kiwi gang member who distributed encrypted phones to organised crime figures around the world - oblivious that the FBI was secretly running the ANOM network - will spend years in United States prison before being deported to New Zealand to face further criminal charges.
Millions of private conversations that serious criminals thought were impossible for law enforcement to intercept were, in fact, covertly obtained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Australian Federal Police in an operation dubbed the “sting of the century”.
The incriminating communications and intelligence were shared with 16 countries, including New Zealand, and Operation Trojan Shield was revealed in June 2021 with more than 500 arrests, along with the seizure of millions of dollars and tonnes of drugs.
In New Zealand, members of the Comancheros, Waikato Mongrel Mob and Head Hunters motorcycle gangs were among those arrested and charged with serious drug smuggling and money laundering offences.
One of the men charged in the Hamilton District Court was Shane Ellwood Ngakuru, now 45, although he was not arrested at the time as he lived in Thailand.
Ngakuru is a member of the Comancheros and a cousin of Duax Ngakuru; the “supreme commander” of the outlaw motorcycle gang who was allegedly running a global drug empire from his base in Turkey.
However, Shane Ngakuru was also wanted by the United States.
He was named in an Department of Justice indictment which alleged Ngakuru was among a select group of criminals who distributed the ANOM communication devices to facilitate global drug trafficking, murder plots, and money laundering.
The FBI alleged Ngakuru was a distributor of the encrypted devices, receiving payments for the $2000 six-month subscription fees and able to remotely delete and reset devices, as well as communicating with the administrators of the encrypted communications platform.
AN0M was marketed as “designed by criminals for criminals” for the purpose of facilitating global drug trafficking and money laundering without being detected by law enforcement, according to the FBI.
By playing such an important role in distribution and technical support, Ngakuru was charged as part of the so-called ‘ANOM Enterprise’ under the US anti-racketeering legislation.
In October 2022, nearly 1 ½ years after the sting ended, Shane Ngakuru was arrested in Thailand and extradited in 2024 to California to face prosecution.
In January this year, he pleaded guilty to the racketeering conspiracy charge and was sentenced in a San Diego courtroom last week.
According to the plea deal, Ngakuru promoted the ANOM platform as designed “by criminals for criminals,” and touted security features such as the ability to wipe devices remotely when seized by law enforcement.
The ANOM criminal enterprise was responsible for the distribution of more than 12,000 devices in 100 countries.
While ANOM’s criminal users unknowingly communicated on the system operated by law enforcement, agents catalogued more than 27 million messages between users around the world whose criminal discussions were covertly obtained and reviewed by the FBI.
ANOM devices were sold to and used by over 300 criminal syndicates, including outlaw motorcycle gangs, Italian and Balkan organised crime groups, and international drug trafficking organisations.
Ngakuru admitted that the purpose of the conspiracy was to facilitate drug trafficking and money laundering, and that he sold ANOM devices knowing they would be used to import at least 50kg of cocaine.
Ngakuru also admitted the importation, exportation, and distribution of at least 5kg of methamphetamine into New Zealand.
Lawyers for the US Department of Justice asked the judge to impose a sentence of 6 years in prison, to send a strong message of deterrence.
“These factors are important because of the specific criminal purpose of encrypted communications platforms such as ANOM and their use by transnational criminal organisations, including the Comancheros,” the US Department of Justice wrote in documents submitted to the court.
But Jeremy Warren, Ngakuru’s defence lawyer, argued that his client should be sentenced to “time served” as he had already spent 2 years 8 months in custody since his arrest in Thailand.
Most of that time was spent in the “Bangkok Hilton”, a Thai prison notorious for its inhumane conditions.
On serving his sentence in the United States, Ngakuru would then be deported and face another 70 criminal charges in a New Zealand courtroom, Warren said.
“Indeed, Mr Ngakuru has no ties to this country, and his first visit will be his only one, as he was brought here from halfway across the world - and will leave here - in custody,” Warren said.
“Given that he faces serious charges in New Zealand, there is little point in having our tax dollars house him here when he will continue to be punished back home.”
However, Judge Janis Sammartino declined to return Ngakuru home immediately and imposed a sentence of 4 years and 9 months in a New Jersey prison.
If his previous time in custody is taken into account, Ngakuru could spend another two years incarcerated in the United States before being deported to face further criminal charges in New Zealand.
His co-defendants are yet to stand trial because of legal arguments over whether the ANOM messages are admissible as evidence in a New Zealand court.
In total, Operation Trojan Shield resulted in approximately 1200 arrests around the world; the seizure of more than 12 tonnes of cocaine, three tonnes of methamphetamine or amphetamines; 17 tonnes of precursor chemicals, 300 firearms, and the equivalent of $100 million in various currencies.
More than 150 threats to life were also prevented, the FBI has said.
“The statistics of this case are staggering,” said US Attorney Tara McGrath in announcing the guilty pleas of Ngakuru and the other ANOM conspirators.
“The FBI led this unprecedented collaboration for years, harnessing the evidence to bring down cocaine, meth, and cash traffickers across the globe. These guilty pleas underscore the impact of international partnerships in dismantling organized crime.”
Like Shane Ngakuru, his cousin Duax Ngakuru also managed to evade arrest in Turkey at the time of Operation Trojan Shield.
The “Supreme Commander” of the Comancheros was taken into custody by Turkish authorities in November 2023, along with his close friend Hakan Ayik and 35 other members of their alleged transnational drug empire.
The pair are alleged to sit at a roundtable of organised crime figures who control major drug smuggling routes around the world, including Australia and New Zealand, and were the principal targets of the FBI sting.
Turkish authorities also seized an estimated $250m of assets.
“Gang leaders … came to our country and continue their criminal activities, and try to deliver the drugs they procured from South America to Australia, the Netherlands and Hong Kong via South Korea and South Africa, and commit them on a global scale,” Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said in a statement.
“It has been determined that they are trying to launder the income they obtained from crimes in our country.”
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, Gangster’s Paradise and Underworld.
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