National gang boss with designer clothes and champagne collection denies knowledge of multimillion-dollar drug enterprise

Tuesday, 16 June 2026

The national commander of the Comanchero Motorcycle Club says he did not know anything about a multimillion-dollar enterprise flooding the South Island with life-ruining drugs.

But the Crown claims Vetekina Naufahu was running the illicit operation and there was no way he could afford his designer wardrobe, champagne collection, and garage full of motorbikes on his sole legitimate income, a benefit.

Naufahu and Comanchero nominees or associates Wiremukingi Matakatea, Petelo Sili and Richard John Dodd are on trial in the High Court at Christchurch for their alleged involvement in an organised criminal group.

The group handled at least 30kg of methamphetamine and cocaine between January and August 2024, sourcing the product in Auckland, transporting it to Christchurch, and returning the cash proceeds north.

Police cracked the network in late August 2024, arresting the entire Christchurch Comanchero chapter and seizing millions of dollars worth of of cash, jewellery and drugs. Seventeen defendants have been convicted to date.

The four defendants on trial this week do not dispute the existence of the drug enterprise, but deny they were involved. Each is charged with participating in the group and drug-related offending.

Naufahu’s lawyer, Ron Mansfield, KC, said there would be “no real dispute” about most evidence the court would hear over the coming weeks. His client did not deny he was the Comanchero commander, nor that he travelled to Christchurch for that role.

But it was “a stretch” to involve Naufahu, who is accused of more than 20 drug crimes, with the offending, Mansfield said.

“His simple position is: ‘Well, others within the Comancheros might have involved themselves in drug dealing - that didn’t involve me, nor did I have knowledge of it.’ And if there is evidence of that, then we will be interested to see it.”

Defence lawyer Michael Starling said the Crown would be unable to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Matakatea knew he was involved in drug transactions, or an organised criminal group. Defence lawyers for Sili and Dodd did not make opening statements.

Crown prosecutor Abbie Hollingworth said the evidence against Naufahu was circumstantial. It would include the commander leading the Comancheros and “laying down the law”, his frequent engagement with the Christchurch chapter, intercepted communications, and his inexplicably “affluent lifestyle”.

Police found designer apparel, a large shoe collection, a champagne collection and a garage full of motorbikes at his modern Auckland rental in August 2024, Hollingworth said, inconsistent with his benefit income.

Officers also found two cash counters, rubber bands consistent with what was used to bundle cash for the operation, and 6g of cocaine, she said. A mixture of phone data, surveillance, and physical evidence would be brought against the other defendants, who were alleged to have less involvement.

The trial is set down for a month before Justice Rachel Dunningham, though the evidence may conclude in two weeks.

A big, lucrative business model

Hollingworth said the Christchurch Comanchero chapter was established in July 2023, after the members of the affiliated Rebels gang were “absorbed”.

The infant chapter required “significant guidance and oversight” from leadership in Auckland, including personal visits and mentorship from Naufahu, she said.

Police’s Operation Avon, which initially focused on profiling the Christchurch Comancheros, swiftly developed to investigate drug offending. It uncovered a multimillion-dollar drug supply network orchestrated by members of the gang.

Typically, wholesale quantities of methamphetamine and cocaine were sourced in Auckland, driven to Hamilton and flown to Christchurch to avoid airport security. The product was further distributed and cash proceeds returned to Auckland.

“Like any big business model, each link in the chain could apply a margin to earn their own profit along the way,” Hollingworth said.

Police identified at least 22 supply trips and interrupted a 23rd. It amounted to between one and five trips a week, with up to 5kg of drugs moved at a time. Officers covertly intercepted seven cash-loaded bags at the airport, observing a total $1.3m cash as they gathered evidence.

Hollingworth said senior members responsible for running the operation reaped the rewards, while junior members physically handled the drugs, cash and high risk jobs.

“This was a planned enterprise by the Comancheros, blessed by a person in authority - Naufahu, who ultimately profited from it,” Hollingworth alleged.

The Press previously reported on the Comanchero South Island commander, the Christchurch treasurer, two young underlings, a pair of identical twins, a barber-turned-drug runner, and another drug transporter.

High Court judges have previously condemned methamphetamine as a drug that ruins lives, and said those who peddle it effectively trade on the misery of others.