Pubdate: Sat, 16 Feb 2002
Source: New Zealand Herald (New Zealand)
Copyright: 2002 New Zealand Herald
Contact:  http://www.nzherald.co.nz/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/300
Author: Geoff Cumming

GANGS MEAN BIG BUSINESS

Gangs have turned away from their traditional patch of turf wars and 
violent crime to the lucrative business of drugs. GEOFF CUMMING investigates.

A shooting, molotov cocktails, rock-throwing, eyeballing - scenes in 
Palmerston North in the past fortnight as Black Power and Mongrel Mob 
members squared off, recall images from the 1970s and 1980s on the streets 
of South Auckland, Moerewa, Porirua and Christchurch.

Leather-clad, patched gang members and their Harley Davidsons are still 
part of the landscape in most sizeable New Zealand towns. Equally 
entrenched are the associations with booze and drugs, intimidation, 
burglaries and armed robberies.

But a falloff in confrontations, part of a calculated move by the gangs to 
lower their profile, has led to a belief that tougher laws and better 
policing have brought them to heel.

In fact, say frontline police, New Zealand's gang problem is worse than 
ever - it's just that the nature of the problem has changed.

Gangs have turned their attention from traditional turf wars and violent 
crime to the extremely lucrative business of manufacturing and distributing 
methamphetamines, mainly speed.

In line with overseas trends, speed is rapidly overtaking cannabis as the 
drug of choice of recreational users and gangs have cornered the market.

Gang stalwarts have traded leathers and patches for business suits and 
clubbing gear to mingle with middle-class users.

Many own flash houses, fast cars and run businesses - sometimes legitimate, 
often to launder profits from drugs.

Gangs that once were bitter enemies have forged nationwide links to 
manufacture and distribute speed and share intelligence.

For the first time in New Zealand, we have real organised crime, say 
police. And, through methamphetamines, the barriers between gangs and 
mainstream society are breaking down.

Northland police chief Viv Rickard says more people than ever are 
associated with gangs.

"The difference is we are not physically seeing the damage they are doing 
every day in the newspaper or on television. But the effects of the gangs 
are more prevalent than ever in terms of the byproducts of what they are 
doing."

Those byproducts range from violence stemming from psychotic reactions to 
the drugs, to job losses, prostitution, theft and other crimes committed by 
addicts feeding $500-a-day habits.

Nine murders in New Zealand have been linked to methamphetamine trading 
gone sour.

Police are reluctant to speculate on the lead-up to the Waitangi Day 
killing in Palmerston North of 16-year-old Black Power prospect Wallace 
Whatuira, which is the subject of an inquiry.

But they warn such disputes could again become common. The extent of gang 
involvement in methamphetamine manufacturing and distribution raises the 
risk of territorial battles as the market reaches saturation point.

"They are like any business looking to expand," says Detective Sergeant 
Sonny Malaulau of the national organised crime unit. "You will always have 
some form of conflict with the competition."

The soaring demand for methamphetamines in New Zealand is associated with 
young, affluent clubbers who want to dance all night. Speed is seen as 
safer and cheaper than other stimulants such as Ecstasy.

But drug squad detectives say its popularity is more widespread than the 
dance club set. An undercover operation in Taupo in October exposed 
businessmen, housewives and schoolchildren as users.

"People who have come from decent homes and nice neighbourhoods have now 
been lured into the use of this drug in epidemic proportions," said the 
head of the operation at the time.

Perceptions that speed is a less risky drug with few long-term consequences 
are false, say police and health workers. Heightening their concern is the 
increasing availability of extremely pure speed, known variously as ice, 
crystal, burn or P. Gangs ban their own members from using it for fear they 
will become unreliable.

The gangs' grip on the methamphetamine market follows a decade of police 
restructuring and political campaigns to combat gang activities with 
tougher laws.

Local authorities in 1997 began using powers to force gangs to tear down 
walls and fortifications.

In 1998, the Harassment and Criminal Associations Act increased judges' 
powers to impose non-association orders and to protect witnesses from 
intimidation.

Under the 1991 Proceeds of Crimes Act, the Crown has seized more than $13 
million from convicted drug offenders. The figure includes more than $1 
million from Auckland chemist William Wallace, jailed for 10 years in 2000 
for manufacturing methamphetamine.

But gangs have reacted by, for instance, renting, rather than owning, 
headquarters and by becoming more covert in their activities.

In the past 18 months, police have made a series of multi-city raids to 
break up major rings. But these busts have only exposed the size of the 
drug problem and the extent of cooperation between gangs.

More resources are needed, say frontline police, particularly in Auckland 
where they are now uncovering labs at the rate of one a week.

"If we had three times the number of staff working in this area it still 
wouldn't be enough," said one detective.

Frustration over budgetary constraints was highlighted by the inquiry into 
the December 2000 killing of Damian Povey at Kopu, near Thames. The 
detective in charge, Mike Whitehead, threatened to quit the case because of 
funding restrictions.

Lenient sentences that often follow police undercover work are causing 
dismay. In one case, a hospital worker who stole enough pills to make up to 
$2 million of speed was given 200 hours community service.

"There needs to be better awareness across all sectors of society of this 
problem and sentences that reflect its seriousness," says Police 
Association president Greg O'Connor.

Police want further law changes. A recommendation that methamphetamines be 
reclassified under the Misuse of Drugs Act, allowing police to search 
without a warrant, is before Associate Health Minister Tariana Turia.

Pressure is also growing for changes to the Proceeds of Crimes Act to place 
the onus on suspects to prove their assets are lawfully obtained. But it's 
hard not to conclude that gangs have become a law unto themselves.

The old-fashioned standoff between the Mongrel Mob and Black Power in 
Palmerston North will be frowned on by motorcycle gangs such as the Hell's 
Angels, which won't deal with gangs that attract police attention.

O'Connor says many gangs have codes of conduct and other systems in place 
to avoid turf wars.

"They impose fines or taxes if someone is found to have offended against 
another gang rather than go out and attack each other."

Some discipline members whose criminal activities draw a police spotlight.

"It gets in the way of business - and that business is making money from 
drugs," says Detective Senior Sergeant Mike Wilkinson of Hastings.

Malaulau says traditional rivalries are breaking down as ethnic gangs 
cooperate to distribute drugs - following the example of motorcycle gangs 
like Hells Angels, Headhunters and Highway 61.

The Auckland Hell's Angels chapter has affiliations with up to 15 gangs 
throughout the country to distribute drugs, he says.

Wilkinson says Hawkes Bay gangs are dividing into set areas of vice, 
starting protection rackets and "taxing" systems. "The main driving force 
is the finance behind the drug money."

Some have eased out of traditional activities like burglaries, car theft 
and distribution of stolen property because of the lower risk and greater 
profit margins in stimulants.

In Auckland, they have expanded from liquor outlets into nightclubs, 
massage parlours and strip clubs to sell drugs and launder money.

"In the old days the ethnic gangs would be fighting it out on the streets 
of South Auckland and Porirua," says Malaulau. "To a large degree now they 
are cooperating on a business level. That's why we don't see too many of 
these scraps out on the streets."

The developing links between gangs and middle-class drug users worry 
frontline police who say they lack the resources to fight organised crime.

"The real gang activity is taking place behind the scenes and there's some 
very big money being made," says O'Connor. "When these people start to 
increase their sphere of influence into mainstream society, New Zealand has 
a real problem."

O'Connor and others fear it will lead to more Mafia-style activity, ranging 
from blackmail and extortion to murder. He cites chemists subjected to 
standover tactics by gangs setting up laboratories to do a "bake" or a "cook."

Police head of crime Bill Bishop says the police found more than 40 labs 
last year, compared with 19 in 2000 and "two or three a year" before then.

"The streets of New Zealand are awash with methamphetamines," says 
O'Connor, "and the growth of methamphetamines and the growth of gangs are 
synonymous."
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