Story: Gangs

Page 4. Gangs and crime

All images & media in this story

Gangs and violence

In 2018, 36% of all prisoners and 70% of Māori prisoners had gang connections. The majority of gang members in prison were there for drugs, violence or sexual violation. Often the most publicly visible form of violence by gang members is gang clashes, which became common during the 1970s. In South Auckland, for example, the Storm Troopers fought frequent battles with other gangs. In June 1971 there was a huge brawl in central Auckland between the Hell’s Angels, Highway 61, the Polynesian Panthers and the Mongrel Mob. Ten years later Black Power and the Mongrel Mob brawled at a family day in Cathedral Square, Christchurch, which was attended by 1,000 people.

In 1973 an escalating feud between the Epitaph Riders and the Devil’s Henchmen of Christchurch led to the fatal shooting of a Henchman. Two years later a member of Highway 61 was shot and killed in Auckland by Hell’s Angels. In 1979 a major riot between the Storm Troopers and Black Power in the Northland town of Moerewa led to several policemen being seriously injured, while a gang member was shot in the leg by police.

From the late 1980s, open inter-gang conflict receded as a result of police pressure, a maturing leadership, and a shift in gang focus towards money-making and organised drug trafficking.

Initiation ceremonies

In Mongrel Mob and Black Power initiation ceremonies ‘prospects’ must prove themselves in tests ranging from drinking urine from a gumboot to committing a specific crime, being bashed by the gang, or serving jail time for a crime committed by a patched member. Cam Stokes, a former police officer, argues that prospects ‘must be prepared to engage in illegal activities to prove their loyalty to the gang and to eliminate the possibility that they are an undercover police officer.’1

In gang culture, women are usually seen as subordinate. Until the early 2000s, gang sex and gang rape of women (both referred to as ‘blocking’) was endemic to gang culture. One particularly infamous incident occurred in 1988 when a young woman was kidnapped and taken to a Mongrel Mob convention in Auckland, where she was raped by more than 15 men.

In recent years heavy prison sentences, a focus on drug dealing and rising awareness of women’s rights have contributed to a nationwide decline in the practice of gang rape. Many gangs have banned blocking, although from time to time individual members are still imprisoned for rape.

High-profile gang killings

Gang killings attract strong media attention, especially when the victims are not other gang members or associates. In 1987 teenager Colleen Burrows was murdered after refusing to have sex with Mongrel Mob members. In 1996 police witness Christopher Crean was murdered at home to prevent him from testifying against Black Power members over their part in a violent brawl. A founding member of the Fourth Reich killed James John (Janis) Bamborough in 1999 for being homosexual, and Korean backpacker Jae Hyeon Kim in 2003 for being Asian. In 2007, Whanganui two-year-old Jhia Te Tua was killed in a Mongrel Mob drive-by shooting at a Black Power member’s house.

Mongrel Mob ditty

Born in a brothel

Raised in a jail

Proud to be a Mongrel

Sieg fucking Heil!

Drugs

Until the early 1980s organised criminal activity within gangs was low, with the exception of occasional outbreaks of turf and patch wars. However some gang members had commenced small-scale drug dealing, and within a decade gangs were developing potentially lucrative international connections. Initially marijuana and some LSD were the primary drugs used and sold, but by the early 1980s a few motorcycle gangs were importing methamphetamine. At first the market was small, but it grew exponentially during the 1990s.

In the early 2000s some gang members focused on quietly making money from drugs rather than expending energy in destructive and profile-raising patch wars. The sale of smokable methamphetamine (known as ‘P’ or ‘Pure’) outstripped other activities as the primary illegal money-maker for criminal gangs. In 2008, 78% of identified clandestine laboratories manufacturing P were connected to organised criminal groups dominated by gang members.

A number of gangs also run legitimate, taxpaying businesses such as nightclubs, massage parlours, fishing operations and retail outlets. Police believe that these are sometimes used to launder money made from illegal activities such as drug dealing.

Transnational gangs

Transnational gangs have a relatively small presence in New Zealand. By the late 1980s police had identified Asian triad-type gangs with involvement in drugs, prostitution, fraud, counterfeiting and extortion. The 14K, Wo Group and Sun Yee On (from Hong Kong), and Ah Kong (from Malaysia), were established in in New Zealand in this period. A more recent arrival is the Big Circle Gang from China. Their members have been associated with intimidation, extortion, gambling, counterfeiting, kidnapping, pāua smuggling, drugs and violence. However, most Asian crime in New Zealand involves small unaffiliated syndicates who often have family connections. There is also evidence of syndicates from West Africa, Iran, Italy, Romania and Pakistan. Since the early 1990s there have been identified instances of the involvement of organised transnational crime with New Zealand gangs and local criminal figures.

Footnotes:
  1. ‘Frequently asked questions’, Gangscene http://www.gangscene.co.nz/gangscene-gang-faq.html (last accessed 3 June 2010). Back
How to cite this page:

Greg Newbold and Rāwiri Taonui, 'Gangs - Gangs and crime', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/gangs/page-4 (accessed 30 March 2024)

Story by Greg Newbold and Rāwiri Taonui, published 5 May 2011, reviewed & revised 2 Oct 2018, updated 1 Apr 2020 with assistance from Jarrod Gilbert