NEW ZEALAND Organised Crime in New Zealand Shares Many

CHAPTER FIVE

NEW ZEALAND

Organised crime in New Zealand shares many characteristics with the situation in Australia, Canada, and other western countries in the region. Drug traffi cking is widely seen as the most signifi cant organised crime problem and New Zealand is simultaneously a transit point for illicit drugs traffi cked across the Pacifi c Ocean and a destination for precursors and substances manufactured overseas. New Zealand has relatively high levels of amphetamine and methamphetamine abuse and some of these substances are manufactured domestically. In recent years, there has been a growing trend of domestic criminal organisations collaborating with Asian crime syndicates to get access to ATS and precursor imports.369 A recent Government paper has also identifi ed the poaching and smuggling of paua shells as ‘a signifi cant area for organised criminality.’370 Among domestic criminal organisations, outlaw motorcycle gangs (OMCGs) are particularly prominent. In the late 1990s these gangs were very frequently associated with extortion and blackmail of former members or rival gangs, especially in South Auckland. Other signifi cant criminal organisations include gangs of Maori and Pacifi c Islanders. While many of these groups are no more than street gangs and disenfranchised youth, others, such as the Mongrel Mob and the rival Black Power Gang, have been found to operate nationally and engage in sophisticated drug running, extortion, and violent crime. New Zealand fi rst introduced organised crime provisions into its Crimes Act 1961 in 1997—in the same year and under very similar circumstances as Canada.371 Th e legislation was amended five years later with the Crimes Amendment Act 2002 (NZ), which signifi cantly broadened the application of the organised crime off ence. Th e follow- ing Sections briefl y outline the off ence as fi rst introduced in 1997 and

369 UNODC, Amphetamines and Ecstasy: 2008 Global ATS Assessment (2008) 53; Gangs and Organised Crime Bill 2009 (NZ), Explanatory Note, 6. 370 Gangs and Organised Crime Bill 2009 (NZ), Explanatory Note, 6. 371 See Section Chapter 4 above. 92 chapter five then explore the current provisions in greater detail. A further amendment proposed in February 2009 with the Gang and Organised Crime Bill is discussed in Section 5.3.

5.1 Former s 98A Crimes Act 1961 (NZ), 1997–2002

In 1996, the Harassment and Criminal Associations Bill (NZ) was introduced into the New Zealand Parliament, inter alia, ‘to place restrictions on the activities of criminal associations or gangs’.372 Th e legislation was the Government’s response to growing concerns over gang crimes in New Zealand. Th e media in New Zealand reported widely about the activities of OMCGs and organised criminal groups of Maori and Pacifi c Islander background, however, no empirical evidence was ever presented to support the perception that organised crime and other gang activity was indeed increasing at that time.373 At the heart of the new legislative package stood the Crimes Amend- ment Act (No 2) 1997 (NZ) which introduced a new off ence entitled ‘participation in [a] criminal gang’ in s 98A Crimes Act 1961 (NZ) Part V— Crimes against Public Order. Like Canada, this off ence was originally modelled aft er §186.22(a) Street Terrorism Enforcement and Prevention (‘STEP’) Act (California) of 1988.374

Defi nition of criminal gang In its original form, s 98A(1)(a) defi ned the term ‘criminal gang’ as a formal or informal association of three or more persons where at least three of the members had been convicted (within a specifi ed time frame)375 of certain serious off ences, such as drug off ences, money laundering, serious violent off ences, or other off ences attracting a

372 Harassment and Criminal Associations Bill 1996 (No 215-1), Explanatory Note, ii. 373 Ibid. Cf. Timothy Mullins, ‘Broader Liability for Gang Accomplices: Participating in a Criminal Gang’ (1996–99) 8 Auckland University Law Review 832 at 833; Levi & Smith, A comparative analysis of organised crime conspiracy legislation and practice and their relevance to England and Wales, 8. 374 Th e STEP Act provisions are modelled on the US Racketeer Infl uenced and Corrupt Organisations (‘RICO’) Act, 18 USC 1961; see further Mullins, ‘Broader Liability for Gang Accomplices’, at 833. See further Section 23.5 below. 375 Former s 98A(1)(c) Crimes Act 1961 (NZ).