Operation Sylvester targeted the alleged large-scale production and supply of methamphetamine by members and affiliates of the motorcycle gang. About 180 officers raided 30 addresses, including the Fight Club 88 gym in the Auckland suburb of Ellerslie.
Police said this morning they had detained nine men and one woman as part of the operation. They will be charged with a range of serious offences, including manufacturing and supplying meth, money laundering, unlawfully possessing firearms and fraud, and are expected to appear in the Auckland District Court this afternoon.
Police also seized 16 cars, including a 1958 Ford Fairlane and a 1964 Ford Thunderbird, from a panel shop on Marua Road, Ellerslie. Officers said earlier they expected to seize about $4 million of assets, including a large number of very expensive, high-end cars, machinery, bank accounts and property. None of the cars removed from by police from Marua Rd so far today are listed as being stolen.
The Herald understands that four patched Head Hunters, including a very senior member of the East Chapter, were among the 10 people detained. Two of those gang members were already inside Mt Eden Prison and allegedly used smuggled cellphones to help organise the production and distribution of the Class-A drug.
The revelation comes after the Government stepped in to take control of the Serco-run prison following evidence of organised fight clubs and smuggled drugs emerged in videos posted online by inmates.
"This is not about targeting people solely because they are in a gang," Detective Inspector Bruce Good said in a statement. "It's about their criminal activity which continues to drive crime, that in turn affects all of us throughout New Zealand."
Corrections Minister Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga said he was disappointed to hear of the arrests of Mt Eden prisoners. "They will now form part of the review already under way by the Chief Inspectorate. It is important that we wait for the outcome of that review and also of the police investigation and any subsequent prosecutions." he said.
The raids on the East Chapter in Ellerslie are at odds with the public anti-P message of the "East Crew" and its gym. Connor Morris, who was allegedly murdered last year, and his father, Chris, also known as One Eye, both shifted from the West Chapter of the gang to the more "disciplined" East Chapter, which is run by president Wayne Doyle.
Mr Morris' family declined to comment about the raids.
Mr Doyle will not be charged in connection to today's raids and members of the East Chapter are banned from smoking methamphetamine. "A lot of guys will transfer to East if they've had enough of that scene," said one source.
Inspector Good said more arrests might be made. "At this point in time I don't want to say who we're talking to and what we're talking about - that will come out later on," he said.
"It has money laundering connotations... We've had a number of aggressors around Auckland and in other policing districts."
Inspector Good said the raids had not turned up large quantities of methamphetamine; the operation was more about seizing assets relating to the crime of manufacturing and supplying the drug. "Where there's crime, there's firearms...there's assets. That's our focus today."
Not all of the people who had been arrested were gang members, he said, adding that officers had not been met by resistance during the raids.
"Any manufacturing of methamphetamine to a large scale is significant. The people we're targeting is the people who manufacture and distribute it, not the end user."
'Shouting and screaming'
The Fight Club 88 gym was where Mr Morris trained and where his tangi was held last year following his death.
A neighbouring business owner, who asked not to be named, said he saw a number of undercover police cars as well as one marked van pull up to the address in the darkness.
Police then hammered on the door and yelled for the men to open up. "This whole place was full of cars. I didn't want to go outside when I happened but I heard them shouting and screaming to open the door."
This morning about 20 people wearing black and red were grouped outside the club, as police officers armed with guns stood by the entrance. A number of the group outside were wearing leather jackets emblazoned with Head Hunters.
An officer in jeans and a shirt with a police vest over top approached the group and spoke separately to a man with blue tattoos running down his face from his eyes.
The business owner said he had had trouble with the gang members coming into his workshop and "standing over" him to get cars fixed. "They come in with the car, stand over you...say, 'No you've got to do it now'. Some jobs I lost money...they just rock up and grab the car. The more pressure [the police] put on them, maybe they'll move and get out of the area."
It was the second raid at the building this year, he said. The earlier raid caused the road to be closed until 9am - impacting on business, he said. "It's a nuisance when they block off the road. There's no need to block the whole thing."
'Protective' of community
Marua Rd resident Jane Estrada said the gang members were often protective of the local community.
Once during a power outage, the men knocked on every door down the street to make sure everyone was okay and see if help was needed, she said.
This mornings raid was so quiet she didn't know it was happening until her friend tried to come to her house through the road block.
"They seem peaceful there all the time. They're very caring.
"I think they're protecting the community but we just have no idea what goes on inside. It's something different then I expected when it's a community with gang members."
She said she had not heard of any burglaries in the street. "It's a good thing they're around. No one would dare," she said.
Another neighbour said the raid was extremely quiet.
Searches were also carried out in Huntly in Waikato, Ruakaka in Northland and Tauranga.
Detectives from the police's Organised Financial Crime Agency - which is leading the operation - are being assisted by officers throughout the districts.
Ripple effect
Detective Inspector Bruce Good said police were also planning to seize assets worth about $4 million, including a large number of high-end cars, machinery, bank accounts and property.
He said the "ripple effect" the criminal offending had on law-abiding New Zealanders could not be underestimated.
A number of people have been detained by police in the last few hours and were now being interviewed in relation to manufacturing and supplying meth, money laundering, unlawfully possessing firearms and fraud.
- NZ Herald
