Gangs see NZ as soft underbelly
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New Zealand is seen as a soft target by gangs, which launder millions of dollars through this country, says the head of an Australian police unit set up to combat Melbourne’s criminal underworld. .
New Zealand needed to target organised crime rings, or risk reaching a crisis point of its own, he said.
Mr Edwards heads the Purana Taskforce, set up after a “crisis” of gangland killings in Melbourne, on which the television drama Underbelly was based. You will get shootings, you will get killings – if you do nothing about it. “Hopefully you realise that you need to stop it before the problems start. She said examples included:
Killer Beez gang owned the hip hop record label Colourways.”
Police Minister Judith Collins told the conference gangs had infiltrated businesses, and turned legitimate enterprises into money-laundering outlets.
– Gangs increasingly attended public and community celebrations, projecting themselves as harmless groups with a strong community spirit. Its music videos were thinly disguised recruitment advertisements for the gang and played on mainstream television.
– Gangs partnered with businesses in finance, transport, private security, entertainment, real estate and various trade-related industries. They had run lotteries, and uniformed police had been sent to oversee the draws.
Mrs Collins said gangs existed to make money and gain power, and their new level of sophistication was presenting a serious challenge. These partnerships help facilitate their real businesses – violence, extortion, drug-dealing and money-laundering.
Mr Edwards cited one of his taskforce’s cases, the busting of a cannabis-growing operation run by an organised gang.
But the Criminal Proceeds Recovery Act, which made possible the seizure of any assets that were probably gained illegally, would help dismantle organised crime.5 million was found to have been sent to New Zealand bank accounts from Australia. A$2.
Police Association president Greg O’Connor said the drug trade here was already leading to money-laundering and violence by organised groups. It was then sent to Vietnam and its value eventually returned to Australia in the form of drugs.”
Police tackling organised crime needed to be tasked with targeting those at “the highest level”, he said, but that could mean no tangible results in the short term. “All the things he’s talked about are already here.
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Money-laundering – by which criminals try to hide the origin of money or property gained illegally – was the result of gangs making large sums from the methamphetamine trade and needing to find legitimate places for it