Former face of Lotto caught up in worldwide FBI sting

Friday, 19 June 2026

Russell Harrison pleaded guilty on Friday to money laundering on behalf of a global drug syndicate.

He had travelled to Turkey in 2021 with six bars of gold bullion to deliver to the Comancheros.

Harrison will be sentenced in August alongside others caught up in the global FBI sting.

The former face of Lotto and a well known entertainer in New Zealand can now be named as he admitted his part in a global drug syndicate that saw him travel to Turkey with six bars of gold bullion to deliver to the “International Commander” of the Comancheros.

Russell Harrison appeared at the High Court at Auckland via a video link from Rotorua on Friday. He was arrested in 2021 alongside senior gang members in the global FBI sting.

Harrison admitted a charge of money laundering with his lawyer, Scott Mills, also confirming interim name suppression could now lapse.

Operation Trojan Shield involved police swoops across 16 countries with more than 800 suspects arrested in 2021, aided by an encrypted communications platform (AN0M) developed by the FBI.

Here in New Zealand, police and customs were carrying out a joint investigation into large-scale importations of methamphetamine.

Rotorua-born Duax Ngakuru, the self-identified “International Commander” of the Comancheros Motorcycle Club, was based in Turkey, and established the “extremely large-scale” drug ring.

To facilitate his planning and communication with other defendants in New Zealand, Ngakuru used AN0M.

How did the former face of Lotto get involved in a global drug syndicate?

Russell Harrison began singing at a very early age and “developed a passion for music”, court documents previously released to Stuff said.

He left school early but pursued a career in entertainment, performing with bands and working as an entertainer with groups such as The Brown Brothers, The Howard Morrison Trio and The Hit Men.

Harrison also presented Lotto for 11 years and had also worked internationally on cruise ships.

But in July 2019, Harrison met a man in an Auckland cemetery where he was handed $420,000 in cash. The cash was the proceeds of drug offending.

Later that same day, Harrison went to New Zealand Gold Merchants and bought six bars of gold bullion using $416,000 of the cash he’d been given.

Ten days later, Harrison travelled to Turkey. Before he’d left the airport, Customs inspected his hand luggage and found the six gold bars.

“Mr Harrison was also in possession of a ‘Power of Attorney’ document which had been produced and notarised in Turkey. The document indicated that Mr Harrison was acting as a courier to transport gold on behalf of Mr Nisanci, Duax Ngakuru’s associate,” court documents released to Stuff show.

After arriving in Turkey, Harrison met with Duax Ngakuru and his Turkish associates - “Mr Nisanci and Ugar Inal”.

Harrison had previously fought to keep his identity a secret all the way up to the Court of Appeal. He had argued there would be immediate and permanent reputational damage if he was named. That suppression was allowed to lapse on Friday.

Appearing remotely from the Rotorua High Court, Harrison pleaded guilty to money laundering.

And he wasn’t alone.

The head of the Comancheros Bay of Plenty chapter, Pomare Pirini, also admitted his part in the scheme.

Pirini, who was referred to on Ciphr (another encrypted messaging app) as “Timewilltell”, was also involved with money laundering on behalf of the syndicate.

Between November 2019 and Feburary 2020, he laundered $1,099,400 - the proceeds of controlled drugs.

Carlo Gear was another defendant who pleaded guilty on Friday. He admitted conspiring to import cocaine alongside other defendants.

In October 2018, the syndicate began discussing plans to import 1.5 tonnes of the Class A drug by boat that was going to be renamed “Kryptonite”.

Gear was going to be one of the crew for a trip that would be able to collect the cocaine 200 miles off the coast of Tauranga.

In November 2019, AN0M messages, intercepted by the FBI, showed “Ironman” in Australia and “Real G” in Lebanon discussing a planned importation.

“The conversation set out that the Colombians wanted to send 500kg of cocaine in Mr [Rudolph] Jones’ yacht from Barranquilla, Colombia to 100 miles offshore from New Zealand.”

“Real G” said in messages he would talk to Duax Ngakuru, who had a crew in New Zealand.

The fourth defendant to admit his part in the syndicate was Jack Phillips.

According to the agreed summary, Phillips played an important introductory role between the Mongrel Mob and Comancheros. He assisted with setting up the supply chain for the drugs the Comancheros intended to bring into the country.

On Friday, he pleaded guilty to participating in an organised criminal group.

Phillips had been recruited to assist in arranging a meeting between Duax Ngakuru and his cousin Shane Ngakuru with the president of the Maketū Chapter of the Mongrel Mob.

All four were convicted and remanded on bail by Justice Michael Robinson to appear for sentencing in August.

Last year, Duax Ngakuru’s cousin, Shane Ngakuru, was jailed for his part in the global drug syndicate. He had admitted distributing the encrypted ANOM phones.

According to the plea agreement obtained by Stuff, Shane Ngakuru was a distributor of the devices to criminal users between October 2019 and June 2021.

Through those devices, Shane Ngakuru and other users facilitated the importation, exportation and distribution of cocaine and methamphetamine.

Shane Ngakuru was arrested in Thailand in 2022 and spent more than 20 months in a prison known as “the Bangkok Hilton”.

Duax Ngakuru was reportedly arrested in Turkey in 2023.