A gang was so intent on becoming the biggest in the Bay of Plenty, it was prepared to use any means possible to get it there, a court has been told.
Not long after arriving in New Zealand from Australia, three men took only a year to set up a new gang and had a reputation for violence, Crown prosecutor Anna Pollett told a jury in the High Court at Hamilton today.
But while the Mongols gang had swiftly built itself a reputation, it had also formed a taste for the good life, with a shopping trip into Louis Vuitton resulting in a $30,000 haul of handbags and clothing, Pollett told the jury.
Mongols president Jim Thacker moved across the Tasman in September 2018 after being involved in the Bandidos gang there, and was followed soon after by Hone Ronaki, who would later become the vice-president and sergeant at arms, and Leon "the Wolf" Huritu, 39.
Pollett said the pair originally joined the Bandidos in New Zealand but were "depatched" after a dispute, so set up the Mongols, a worldwide gang set up in the United States in the 1960s.
Nine Mongols members, including Thacker – known as "JD", "Jack Daniels", "the Cap", or "el Presidente" who had overarching control of its drug dealing operation – and Ronaki are defending 118 charges related to drug dealing and supply, firearms, aggravated robbery and money laundering.
The other defendants are Jason Ross, 46, Kelly Petrowski, 28, Matthew Ramsden, 45, Kane Ronaki, 24, Te Reneti Tarau, 26, and a 28-year-old man with interim name suppression.
The accused are either "office holders", members, or associates of the Mongols from around the country, including Hawke's Bay, Christchurch and Auckland.
The Crown alleges they were responsible for the commercial supply of drugs throughout New Zealand and were involved in "tit-for-tat" shootings with rival gangs, including one in Tauranga, where Mongols members fired 96 rounds of ammunition at a house where children were.
The gang allegedly obtained, distributed and broke down quantities of drugs and sold them for profit. They used the firearms to service that drug trade, Pollett said.
"They were regularly in possession of firearms and they weren't afraid to use them to ensure the rival gangs in the Bay of Plenty knew they were in town and knew they were here to stay."
As well as allegedly selling drugs, Pollett said, Thacker was generous to his members.
One day he splashed out $19,000 on clothes and bags at a Louis Vuitton store, nine pairs of Nike shoes worth $2300 at Footlocker and $30,000 on 10 cellphones that police could not tap.
Thacker also made designer gang patches, with Pollett telling the jury they will see a Gucci and a Louis Vuitton patch.
A car parked in the driveway of a Haukore St house was left riddled with bullet holes after an alleged attack by Mongols gang members. Photo / Sandra Conchie
"These are not cheap items," she said.
The Mongols' goals were their drug dealing enterprise, and to use violence to take control and become the dominant gang in the Bay of Plenty.
"Within just about a year of setting out to achieve those goals, the Mongols had done just that.
"They had rapidly established a violent criminal group gang and drug enterprise and only came to a halt when police executed Operation Silk in June 2020."
Fellow prosecutor Justine Sutton said the Crown case involved extensive investigations by the National Organised Crime Group, a large part of which were intercepted communications including phone calls and text messages between December 2019 and May 2020.
Police also had an audio device in Thacker's home.
A key witness, who has name suppression, was involved in the Mongols gang and their alleged drug dealing, and a "trusted associate … who will give critical, first-hand, frontline information", Pollett said.
He was involved in the transportation of the drugs and firearms and although he was charged over some offences, had been granted immunity against prosecution for other charges for his co-operation with police.
Although the Police National Organised Crime Group became aware of the gang's alleged drug distribution in August 2019, police became aware of the members themselves a few months earlier after several of them, including Thacker, racially abused a taxi driver in Tauranga.
By the middle of 2019 the Mongols had chapters - members were known as the "originals" - in Hawke's Bay, Christchurch and Auckland, where some of the accused are from.
Pollett said Thacker "might have tried to avoid getting his hands dirty by limiting what he primarily did with the drugs", but he directed and controlled his members, including when it came to ordering "violent retaliation" against Mongrel Mob and Greasy Dog gang members.
The Crown alleges Thacker sold and conspired to sell large quantities of methamphetamine and smaller amounts of cocaine.
Gang vice-president Hone Ronaki, was known as "H1" or "Oner", and lived in Te Puke.
For Ronaki, the Mongols were "a gang business and a family business".
Gang prospects Te Reneti Tarau and Kane Ronaki are relatives of Hone Ronaki who aspired to be members and "did what they could" to get a patch, the Crown said.
Five molotov cocktails found during a search warrant under Operation Silk in June 2020. Photo / NZ Police
The court would also hear how although he was a senior and loyal gang member, Hone Ronaki had his own side hustle and would "take a bit off the top" of the methamphetamine and sell it for his own profit, Pollett said.
Leon Huritu, known as "Wolf", was responsible for maintaining order at club meetings and ensuring members adhered to the club rules. He would also defend club members and its territory, as well as being a "key player of the violence".
A 28-year-old Auckland man, who has interim name suppression, was actively involved in violent offending but also controlled the securing of large quantities of methamphetamine in Auckland to then be given to the gang, which was then cleaned up and cut – or bulked up - and sold again.
From Te Puke, the drug would then be distributed around the country.
Jason Ross was the Christchurch, or South Island, chapter president, and had the nicknames "Six" or "666".
Kelly Petrowski is based in Hastings and had the nickname "Rhino".
The Crown claimed he worked with Thacker and Hone Ronaki in supplying drugs to Ross in Christchurch.
Petrowski was also a regular at gang "meet-ups", including at the Quest and Papamoa Tavern in Tauranga and Crown Plaza Hotel in Christchurch.
It's alleged he was also involved in a shooting in Malcolm Ave, Tauranga, in May 2020.
Ramsden while not patched had a critical role in the gang of processing, handling and cleaning the methamphetamine before giving it to Hone Ronaki to be redistributed or supplied.
"Ramsden had the skills and that's why he's here."
Thacker also ran the Bladed and Faded barber shop but on January 26, 2020, a glass door was smashed and the following night it was burned down in an arson attack.
That sparked a shooting of a Mongrel Mob house in Haukore St, allegedly by Thacker and others in which 96 rounds of ammunition were fired at the house – where adults and children were inside – and at a vehicle in the driveway.
The Mongrel Mob retaliated with several car loads of members heading to Hone Ronaki's Te Puke house where a "gang-land type shooting" took place.
Those involved had fled by the time police arrived, but weapons were later found on the banks of the Kaituna River at Te Puke.
Pollett said the Crown's evidence will also show how the gang's drug pricing worked, with surveillance discussions revealing 10 ounces of P was worth $50,000, and 3oz were worth $6000 each.
Operation Silk was wrapped on June 23, 2020, when police executed a series of search warrants.
Where's the evidence?
Defence counsel Bill Nabney made brief opening statements on behalf of his clients, Thacker and Leon Huritu.
The Crown charged Thacker because he is the president, Nabney said, but that didn't mean he had any control over what his members did.
He cited Hone Ronaki's drug side hustle as Thacker not having control or knowledge.
"It doesn't mean it has anything to do with Mr Thacker. That's a perfect example of Mr Thacker not being in control of what's going."
He also urged the jury to ask themselves throughout the Crown's case - "where's the evidence?"
"When you hear conversations between two people and neither is Thacker - he might get name-checked but it doesn't mean he is part of it."
He noted how the Crown put down the lack of evidence to the "cypher phones" the accused were allegedly using but Nabney said a court trial can't work that way.
"You rely on the evidence you hear and see, you don't fill in the gaps.
"If things don't stack up ... then the Crown haven't done what they say they have to do."
He also took a swipe at police and the lack of drugs discovered in their searches.
"Where are the drugs? Where are the vast quantities? There were quite a few police searches. There's a lack of evidence. They've done a search but where are the drugs?"
