Many of those arrested were Vietnamese nationals, duped into coming to New Zealand on false promises of employment, often after paying tens of thousands of dollars to unscrupulous immigration agents to obtain visas.
Instead of working in the legitimate jobs they were promised, the exploited migrants were forced to tend the cannabis plants as “crop sitters” to repay their supposed debts.
Operation Blackout was born out of a previous police investigation, Operation Beryl, that busted 120 “grow houses” in Auckland and confiscated 10 tonnes of cannabis in the space of a few weeks last year.
But those arrested and deported following Operation Beryl were mostly “crop sitters” sitting at the bottom of the criminal hierarchy.
So the National Organised Crime Group, a specialist division of police with ring-fenced staff, were tasked with investigating the so-called “facilitators” pulling the strings in the commercial cannabis industry.
Described as “criminal entrepreneurs” in a recent police intelligence briefing released under the Official Information Act, “facilitators” specialise in specific aspects of the supply chain and were often linked to several Vietnamese organised crime groups.
Detective Senior Sergeant John Brunton, the officer in charge of the most recent investigation, said police had taken their time to investigate the syndicate and build a picture of its network – alleged to be one of the largest of its kind.
“Police are alleging that those arrested during Operation Blackout are members of a syndicate that facilitate cannabis grow operations for their profit. They operated two warehouses in Auckland that supplied equipment and arranged financing for the grow houses,” Brunton said.
“They also assisted with securing rental properties, electrical work and arranged crop sitters at the various Auckland addresses.”
The alleged kingpin of the syndicate is a 36-year-old man from the south Auckland suburb of Flat Bush.
He faces charges of participating in an organised criminal group, money laundering, supplying equipment used in cannabis cultivation and possession of cannabis for supply.
Companies Office records show the alleged kingpin is the sole director and shareholder of two garden supply businesses, as well as a nail salon in Auckland.
Vietnamese organised crime groups start businesses in industries such as construction, beauty and hospitality to launder the profits of their criminal enterprises, according to a recent police intelligence briefing released under the Official Information Act.
In a written statement to the Herald, Brunton said the investigation will now focus on alleged unexplained cash deposits into the bank accounts of the two businesses which allegedly supplied the cannabis growing equipment.
He also confirmed a search warrant was conducted at a nail salon business in Auckland where financial records were seized for further investigation.
“We are still in the early stages of quantifying the value of funds believed to have been laundered,” Brunton said.
“However, financial analysis, supported by other investigative evidence, indicates the use of money laundering typologies consistent with the concealment and movement of proceeds derived from alleged cannabis cultivation offending.”
The police intelligence briefing also states that Vietnamese organised crime groups have “almost certainly” exploited immigration pathways to enable their offending.
The Herald has previously revealed another investigation, Operation Clementine, which exposed how more than 200 Vietnamese nationals were able to enter New Zealand on work visas for defunct businesses.
Those businesses, mostly in the construction and hospitality industries, were later exposed as fronts for a vast network of cannabis ‘grow houses’ in Auckland.
Jared Savage covers crime and justice issues, with a particular interest in organised crime. He joined the Herald in 2006 and has won a dozen journalism awards in that time, including twice being named Reporter of the Year. He is also the author of Gangland, Gangster’s Paradise and Underworld.