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The Crown has opened its case against the head of the Comancheros gang, Pasilika Naufahu, on charges of money laundering and drugs.
The president of the Comanchero Motorcycle Club, Pasilika Naufahu, and several of her associates and alleged associates have pleaded not guilty to the drug and money laundering charges.
Photo: RNZ / Dan Cook
It has been almost a year and a half since the culmination of a sophisticated police operation in April 2019, where police simultaneously raided 10 properties in Auckland in a raid that generated millions of dollars in property, cars, motorcycles and cash.
Eighty police officers made a total of 12 arrests in two phases of the operation called Nova, led by the National Group against Organized Crime.
Many of the charges were divided throughout the subsequent court process into various pleas of guilty and not guilty, sentences, and trials.
Connor Clausen.
Photo: RNZ / Dan Cook
Today, 17 months after the arrests, one of the most important, the trial of President Pasilika Naufahu, began in the Auckland High Court.
Naufahu, 33, is charged with one count of conspiracy to import a class A drug, one count of conspiracy to supply a class B drug, pseudoephedrine, and three counts of money laundering.
Crown prosecutor David Johnstone opened the case against Naufahu and said that until police intervened, he, his family and friends were living large, enjoying the success of the group.
“New Range Rover after new Range Rover, a beautiful home in Bucklands Beach, residence in one of the apartments on Quay St Pier, trips to the harbor in a luxury launch, a Lamborghini, a Rolls Royce, ostentatiously … designed motorcycles, “Johnstone said.
Crown Attorney David Johnstone (file photo).
Photo: RNZ / Claire Eastham-Farrelly
But with that amount of luxury, Johnstone said, some difficulties arose.
“The problem, of course, was how to hide the crimes that were generating all this money. Many secrets had to be kept, and they needed to be faked a lot.”
He claimed that there were some tactics both to generate and to hide the source of the money.
“The links that several members of the group had with drug trafficking … the fact that the group used a concreting business to pretend to pay wages.”
Johnstone described how Naufahu arrived from Australia in early 2016, before quickly becoming the president of the New Zealand chapter of the Comanchero motorcycle club. Johnstone said Naufahu later appointed associates to high-ranking positions.
Wiwini Hakaria.
Photo: RNZ / Dan Cook
Four others are on trial with Naufahu on a combination of charges: Connor Clausen, Wiwini Hakaraia and two others who have name suppression, including a media personality.
Johnstone’s keynote address today focused heavily on Naufahu’s alleged involvement.
This morning a jury of nine men and three women was selected from a group of dozens; The selection process spanned two different courtrooms, with all the attorneys, staff, the media, and potential jurors wearing masks.
Some jurors were sitting on makeshift cardboard desks to allow them to be separated, and all are protected by plastic screens.
The trial continues with the defense opening its case on Tuesday.
