But Lazar is the only one to stand trial so far. <\/p>\n
His Kiwi co-defendants, Matthews and Johnson, managed to escape from Romania in December 2022 after being granted bail during the extradition proceedings.<\/p>\n
Both men had successfully evaded capture until Matthews was arrested in March riding motorcycles <\/a>with other members of the Hells Angels in Spain.<\/p>\n He could be seen wearing his Hells Angels NZ patch in a video posted to social media by Spanish police. <\/p>\n The US is now seeking his extradition.<\/p>\n However, the whereabouts of Johnson is unknown.<\/p>\n Now, the US Marshals – the law enforcement agency tasked with hunting federal fugitives – has issued a $US10,000 ($NZ17,500) reward for information leading to his capture.<\/p>\n The \u2018wanted poster\u2019 for the 59-year-old states that Johnson is wanted on allegations of conspiracy to commit murder, importation of cocaine and money laundering.<\/p>\n \u201cJohnson uses numerous aliases and has worked for decades as a narcotics trafficker, transporting 500kg amounts throughout Europe and the Pacific,\u201d the US Marshals allege.<\/p>\n \u201cJohnson has a longstanding relationship with the Hells Angels NZ motorcycle club.\u201d<\/p>\n Also known as MJ, Rush or Captain, the US Marshals said Johnson should be considered \u201carmed and dangerous\u201d.<\/p>\n Anyone with information was asked to contact the US Marshals through the tipline.<\/p>\n While not a gang member, Johnson is a career criminal with a long and chequered past.<\/a><\/p>\n With a university degree in chemistry and years of experience working in laboratories in the United Kingdom, Johnson returned to NZ in the 1990s and started an event lighting business in the nightclub scene. <\/p>\n His drug addiction intertwined with his business interests however, leading to bankruptcy. <\/p>\n Johnson put his chemistry skills to work manufacturing methamphetamine, a relatively new and popular drug.<\/p>\n In 2001 he was convicted in two separate trials of attempting to manufacture and conspiring to manufacture meth, which was only a Class B drug at the time. He was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat saddens me is that you are a person of intellect and ability, and you have displayed a commitment in obtaining your qualifications,\u201d the sentencing judge told Johnson.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is a matter for you, but let me say this to you, there is no future in being involved in the manufacture of drugs. <\/p>\n \u201cAll that will happen to you is that you will spend a lifetime in prison and you will know that all those individuals who consistently become involved in the narcotic scene, whether by way of manufacture, supply or importation, eventually end up serving very, very lengthy terms of imprisonment. <\/p>\n \u201cIt would be sad to see a person of your talents and ability end up like that.\u201d<\/p>\n Only a few years passed before Johnson was back before the courts, jailed in 2007 for one year and 9 months for possession of equipment to manufacture methamphetamine.<\/p>\n The following year, the now 42-year-old Johnson was convicted of conspiracy to manufacture and supply the Class A drug in a Nelson drug ring.<\/p>\n \u201cYou describe yourself as living \u2018week by week\u2019 and being \u2018lost in a maze of meth\u2019, and on a \u2018downhill run\u2019 at the time of your offending,\u201d Justice Lynton Stevens told Johnson in 2008.<\/p>\n \u201cYou state that you are \u2018appalled with the whole thing\u2019. And so you should be, because this is a nefarious drug, the effects of which are pernicious, not just for you, but for the whole of society.\u201d<\/p>\n Justice Stevens said he would give Johnson \u201cone last chance\u201d on account of his early guilty pleas, and attempts to turn his life around, and so gave a generous sentence of two years 10 months.<\/p>\n Just four years later, Johnson was arrested for running a laboratory making a different sort of drug altogether, gamma-butyrolactone or GBL.<\/p>\n Better known as fantasy, the Class-B drug is popular in the UK nightclub scene where GBL had a more sinister nickname – \u201ccoma in a bottle\u201d – as a so-called date rape drug.<\/p>\n Due to its liquid form, GBL can easily be slipped into someone\u2019s drink to make them an easier, stupefied target for sexual assault.<\/p>\n The 47-year-old Johnson was convicted of making GBL and sent to prison yet again, this time for four years and three months.<\/p>\n He was released by the Parole Board in 2015 and the three-person panel urged Johnson to \u201cuse the intelligence he undoubtedly has\u201d.<\/p>\n With dual British citizenship, Johnson told the Parole Board he wanted to complete a fluid engineering course in the UK in order to become a \u201cmud doctor\u201d in the drilling industry.<\/p>\n Johnson was \u201cdetermined to not return to prison\u201d, noted the Parole Board, but five years later was arrested in the undercover DEA sting in Romania.<\/p>\n While his whereabouts is currently unknown, the DEA has had more success in tracking down Miles John McKelvy<\/a>, a convicted fraudster and drug importer living in Auckland, for his alleged role in the drug conspiracy.<\/p>\n Marc Patrick Johnson is wanted by the United States Marshals service for his alleged role in a plot to import 400kg of cocaine into New Zealand. Image \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
Hells Angels New Zealand gang member Murray Michael Matthews went on the run with Johnson in 2022 but was arrested in Spain in March 2025. Photo \/ Guardia Civil<\/p>\n
Marc Patrick Johnson is wanted by the United States Marshals service for his alleged role in a plot to import 400kg of cocaine into New Zealand. Image \/ NZME composite<\/p>\n