Police are welcoming a court order that has stripped assets and cash from a senior Mongrel Mob member.
Photo: 123RF
The Napier High Court has ordered the forfeiture of assets and cash from Mongrel Mob Notorious member Tui Miller.
Two vehicles and $10,000 cash were forfeited.
Miller was arrested in 2019 after his vehicle was stopped in Havelock North, police said.
During a search of the vehicle, they found the cash and 50 grams of methamphetamine worth around $14,000, Detective Sergeant Alex Macdonald said in a statement.
Miller was taken to Hastings Hospital after reporting he felt unwell and then escaped from custody.
He was arrested in Auckland, and sentenced to two and a half years in prison for charges relating to the possession for supply of methamphetamine, possession of cannabis as well as driving while suspended and escaping custody.
Both vehicles were bought with money acquired from selling illicit drugs, one of which he registered in his wife's name in an attempt to separate himself from the offending, Macdonald said.
"This is another example of police successfully targeting organised crime through both criminal and civil court jurisdictions," he said.
"This will have a direct impact on financial gain, which is one of the primary underlying reasons that organised crime exists."
Over the past two years, the Police Asset Recovery Unit has seen the forfeiture of more than $6.6m worth of property and cash from Mongrel Mob members belonging to different chapters of the gang in the Hawke's Bay region, Macdonald said.
He reminded businesses that they should be wary of accepting significant cash payments from gang members.
"At best you are assisting people who are bring great harm into the community, and are potentially participating in a money laundering transaction that you or your business may be criminally liable for."
The Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act 2009 allows police to restrain and forfeit assets acquired or derived from the proceeds of crime.
Once forfeited to the Crown, proceeds are spent on different projects such as those aimed at reducing methamphetamine harm in the community.