John Lomu, the brother of late All Blacks great Jonah Lomu, has admitted aiding a drug-smuggling operation. Photo \/ Michael Craig<\/p>\n
Customs had conducted two other investigations into East T\u0101maki FedEx employees, dubbed Operations Sink and Pharaoh, the previous year. Six employees had been arrested as a result.<\/p>\n
Now they began a new investigation, Operation Dark, and focused their attention primarily on John Lomu. <\/p>\n
Part of his work duties included using a Budget rental truck to deliver consignments from the FedEx depot to the Air Cargo Inspections Facility.<\/p>\n
In August 2023, undercover investigators watched Lomu make an unscheduled stop at a residential address in M\u0101ngere while driving the truck from the FedEx depot to the Customs site. On his return journey, he met co-defendant Silila Vaivai, who also pleaded guilty this week.<\/p>\n
Vaivai, a former FedEx employee, admitted to importing controlled drugs.<\/p>\n
The clandestine meeting was enough to persuade a judge to allow the use of surveillance devices on both men, including GPS tracking and covert cameras.<\/p>\n
The devices helped to prove that, between June and September 2023, the two defendants met to exchange packages when Lomu should have been driving straight from the FedEx depot to the Customs site.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe parcels Mr Lomu provided Mr Vaivai, which had recently arrived from overseas, contained controlled drugs as well as sundry other items,\u201d the summary of facts states. \u201cMr Vaivai would remove the drugs and return them to Mr Lomu for replacement in the Customs facility.\u201d<\/p>\n
John Lomu, younger brother of Jonah Lomu. Photo \/ Nick Reed<\/p>\n
Investigators counted 15 times when Vaivai imported drugs, 14 of which were aided by Lomu.<\/p>\n
The packages arrived from all over the world and were sent to various homes around Auckland, with one addressed to the fictional movie character Rocky Balboa. Authorities still don\u2019t know the exact amounts and type of drugs that were imported, but they were left with little doubt that the packages had been tampered with.<\/p>\n
The packages often included blocks of A4 paper and used clothes, and were far off the weight that had been on their labels.<\/p>\n
For example, a package sent at the end of August 2023 was labelled as \u201clightings\u201d valued at $277 and was supposed to weigh 14.95kg. Customs, searching the package after Lomu delivered it, found used clothing instead of lights and noticed that it weighed 3kg less.<\/p>\n
A short list labelled \u201cprojects\u201d that was later recovered from the notes app on Vaivai\u2019s phone included bullet points that read \u201cIce\u201d and \u201c7712 LED lights\u201d.<\/p>\n
Investigators also looked into Lomu\u2019s bank accounts, showing that he made more than $100,000 in cash deposits during a roughly one-year period ending in late 2023. There was also a direct credit transaction for nearly $200,000 in November 2023, and his Wise banking app was found to contain $250,000.<\/p>\n
An examination of Vaivai\u2019s Wise app showed that he had received more than $350,000 between January and August 2023.<\/p>\n
John Lomu used his job at the FedEx base in East T\u0101maki, Auckland, to help smuggle illegal drugs into New Zealand. Photo \/ Google<\/p>\n
While executing a search warrant at Vaivai\u2019s Blockhouse Bay home in May 2024, police found more than $500,000 in cash in the boot of his car and two cash-counting machines.<\/p>\n
\u201cA review of Mr Lomu\u2019s phone revealed four screenshots of WhatsApp messages from Mr Vaivai, with advice on what to say in relation to suspicious money transactions,\u201d court documents outline.<\/p>\n
In an interview with police, Lomu described Vaivai as an \u201cacquaintance\u201d whom he saw rarely. He declined to answer questions about the drug imports, authorities noted.<\/p>\n
Both men had been set to go to trial this week in the Manukau District Court.<\/p>\n
They\u2019ll instead be sentenced in June.<\/p>\n
John Lomu\u2019s older brother, one of the most famous rugby players of all time, died in 2015.<\/p>\n