Comancheros gang paid $3.8m for Auckland mansion seized by police after money-laundering investigation

The Herald can reveal the most significant purchase was a three-storey home in Half Moon Bay for $3.8m in August last year.

The five-bedroom, three-bathroom dwelling has a pool and panoramic views of the Hauraki Gulf stretching from the marina to Rangitoto Island.

Court documents show the property was registered in the name of a 36-year-old Auckland man who did not live at the address. Instead, the wife of a high-ranking Comanchero moved into the palatial home with their family.

Several months after the $3.8m purchase, the registered owner was arrested and charged with the attempted importation of 50kg of methamphetamine from Mexico into New Zealand.

When Operation Scuba ended in March with the arrests of 11 people, the Half Moon Bay mansion was restrained under the Criminal Proceeds Recovery Act.

Under the law, police do not need to secure a conviction for frozen assets to be eventually forfeited.

They only have to show that someone profited from criminal offending to the lower standard of proof applied in civil cases – “on the balance of probabilities” – rather than surpassing the more difficult “beyond reasonable doubt” threshold for criminal cases.

Frozen assets are managed by the Official Assignee until a High Court judge rules on whether the assets should be permanently forfeited.

In this case, the Half Moon Bay mansion was sold at a mortgage sale for $2,505,000 in July.

The mortgage was repaid in full and the balance of $50,172.97 is held by the Official Assignee as restrained funds, said Vanessa Cook, the national manager for criminal proceeds.

Given the original price tag of $3.8m, this means the Comancheros allegedly put nearly $1.35m in funds to buy the property.

A police spokesman confirmed the Half Moon Bay home was restrained as part of Operation Scuba, as well as a second property in Weymouth.

In announcing the raids on the Comancheros this month, Police Commissioner Andrew Coster alleged the investigation showed the two properties were purchased with profits from illegal activities.

He said the Weymouth property was the gang’s pad for the “Southside” chapter.

Police also restrained nearly $1m in cash, a late-model Range Rover and two Harley-Davidson motorcycles.

The Comancheros are an Australian motorcycle club that established a chapter in New Zealand six years ago when a small but influential group were deported as “501s” by Australian authorities.

Their arrival led to a radical shift in the criminal underworld.

“From the moment the gang established a presence in this country, they made it very clear they saw themselves as the number one gang in this country,” Coster said.

“Police have dealt with a blow right to the heart of this gang’s alleged activities.”

One of the key pieces of evidence gathered in the most recent investigations, Coster alleged, was an instruction sent to Comanchero members three years ago to establish a “commission” to fund the gang’s activities.

As an example, police allege, members were ordered to pay a $5000 commission for every kilogram of drugs sold.

“This commission allegedly raised funds to purchase a gang pad, two businesses as well as purchasing of firearms,” Coster said.

“Police will also allege that these funds were being used to carry out military-styled training of 15 of its members by a trainer brought into the country for this purpose.”

Prosecution documents obtained by the Herald reveal the former Marine traveled to New Zealand last November to put the gang members through a comprehensive daily training schedule, which included physical fitness tests, as well as practical and classroom lessons.

Photographs show several Comancheros wearing combat-style clothing, full face and body paint, to practice military maneuvers at an “airsoft” – a shooting game using plastic projectiles – facility south of Auckland.

One member was photographed wearing sniper camouflage clothing known as a ghillie suit and carrying a sledgehammer.

The police will allege the training camps demonstrate the Comancheros’ ability to establish “tactical teams” to carry out violent offenses against other gangs and criminals.

In the alleged “commission” instruction sent to members, there was a discussion about building a “ghost team” to “take on our wars” and “continue to do our hits.”

Coster said the recent investigation was the “single biggest blow” to the Comancheros since Operation Nova in 2019, when the majority of the gang’s hierarchy were convicted of money laundering or drug offenses.

Even though most of their founding members are in prison, or deported to Australia in one case, the “Comos” have kept growing in size and influence in New Zealand’s criminal underworld.

Social media has been one of their most effective recruiting tools.

They are one of several gangs that have taken to posting content online to portray their strength in numbers, flaunt their wealth, or poke fun at law enforcement.

Jared Savage covers crime and justice issues, with a particular interest in organized crime. I have joined the Herald in 2006 and has won a dozen journalism awards in that time, including twice being named Reporter of the Year. He is also the author of gangland and Gangster’s Paradise.