A Dunedin man caught as part of a nationwide police drug sting on the Comancheros gang has been jailed for more than six years.
The High Court at Dunedin this week heard 37-year-old Luke James Ruaine Maloney was not a member of the motorcycle gang, but provided a vital link in the distribution of narcotics in the South.
He earlier pleaded guilty to 17 counts, including methamphetamine, firearm and cannabis charges, as well as participating in an organised criminal group.
The Comancheros gang, which originated in Australia, is thought to have expanded in New Zealand with the arrival of 501 deportees.
The outlaw group has become synonymous with weapons and large-scale drug trafficking, which prompted police’s Operation Avon.
As investigations progressed, officers discovered a commercial enterprise centred in Christchurch with tentacles in the South, and Operation Leith was launched.
Court documents described Maloney as a courier of drugs, who was in direct contact with a gang member and operating on his instructions throughout.
In early 2024, the defendant repeatedly travelled from Dunedin to Christchurch, collecting methamphetamine and cannabis, and dropping cash from sales with his handler.
Maloney was occasionally involved in sales himself, but more often would split larger consignments among street-level dealers.
The court heard he once went to Invercargill to pick up cash from a dealer and was involved in administrative task such as booking motel rooms for gang associates, who were travelling the lower South Island, distributing the illicit substances.
Maloney’s frequent trips up and down State Highway 1 ended on May 2, 2024, when he and another man were stopped in a late-model rented Ford Ranger on a petrol-station forecourt in Ashburton.
The men were heading south after restocking in Christchurch.
In the vehicle, police found more than 550g of meth, which had an 80% purity, and 850g of cannabis, along with a grinder, bong and $3065 cash.
Analysis of Maloney’s phone showed he had been involved in the drug enterprise for the preceding five months.
He had made offers to sell more than $60,000 of methamphetamine and $53,000 of cannabis during the period, a prosecution summary said.
When police raided Maloney’s home, they found a sawn-off shotgun with seven shells and 91g of cannabis.
The defendant claimed he had the firearm because he had previously been sergeant at arms for the Bandidos gang and had forgotten he had it.
Justice Owen Paulsen described the explanation as ‘‘implausible’’.
However, he accepted Maloney was not living a lavish lifestyle and had not profited significantly from his crimes.
Counsel Joshua McLeod said his client’s involvement was primarily to fund his addiction to cannabis, a substance he had used from the age of 10.
Maloney was jailed for six years and four months.