Senior Mongrel Mob Waikato member Mark Griffiths. Photo: STUFF / Dominico Zapata
The second-in-charge of a high-profile Waikato gang which has burnished its public image with a proclaimed tough stance against meth has admitted importing and selling "commercial quantities" of the drug.
Mark Anthony Griffiths, 52, appeared in the High Court in Hamilton on Tuesday morning, where he pleaded guilty to charges of importing, possessing and supplying methamphetamine.
Griffiths also admitted possessing and supplying Gamma-Butyrolactone (GBL), commonly known as the "date rape" drug.
Following his arraignment, Griffiths, who lives in Te Kowhai near Hamilton, was remanded in ongoing custody to be sentenced on 8 February next year.
The charges all relate to offending that happened between October 2019 and November 2020.
The maximum penalty for importing methamphetamine is life in prison.
At the time of his arrest in November 2020, "Griff" was a long-standing member of the Waikato Mongrel Mob Kingdom, a gang which has been outspoken about its attempts to change the "gangs are bad" narrative.
In recent years they have used the service of a public relations practitioner, established an all-women chapter, delivered food to people during the Covid-19 lockdown, and stood guard at a mosque in Hamilton following the 2019 mosque attacks.
However, Griffiths' admissions badly damage the efforts of his immediate boss, Waikato Mongrel Mob Kingdom Chapter president Sonny Fatupaito, to disassociate the gang from the drugs trade.
Mongrel Mob member Mark Griffiths was one of hundreds to gather at Hamilton's mosque to honour those killed in the 2019 terrorist attack. Photo: STUFF / Christel Yardley
"I emphatically state as Arikinui of the Waikato Mongrel Mob Kingdom I have zero tolerance for the importation, selling, supply and possession of methamphetamine in our confederation, and my stance is well known across the Waikato region and Aotearoa," Fatupaito previously told Stuff in November 2020 in the aftermath of police raids in the investigation.
"My continued focus as a leader is to influence, promote and empower our members to choose to live positive, constructive, and productive lives free from alcohol and drugs, and steer them in a direction away from criminal offending."
It appears his right-hand man did not get the memo.
How the meth ring worked
As the agreed Crown summary of facts on Griffiths' case reveals, he might have been the number two in the gang, but he was the top man in "a highly organised and lucrative criminal enterprise involving the large-scale distribution" of meth and GBL.
A core member of this network was Griffiths' partner, Sharon Marfell, 49, who in September was jailed for seven years.
She had admitted charges of supplying methamphetamine, conspiring to sell methamphetamine, possessing methamphetamine for supply, participating in an organised criminal group and possession and supply of GBL.
Other members of the network were based in Auckland and Wellington.
According to the summary, Marfell "was engaged in a prolific supply of methamphetamine on a regular basis, providing it to other members of the group for on-supply and selling it to her regular customers in amounts of at least one gram.
She offered the drug for the non-negotiable price of $400 per gram. Marfell was also heavily involved in the collection of drug debts owed to her and Griffiths.
A forensic accountant for the New Zealand Police Asset Recovery team found that between 1 January, 2017 to 20 November, 2020 Griffiths and Marfell had access to "an unknown income source" of no less than $713,441.96.
The couple and the other members of their network - Phrasit Chanthawong, Mose Douglas Iakopo, Camille Doreen Keyte, Yoichi Martin Cole, John Maxwell Elliott, and John Griffiths - communicated via text using code words and phrases, such as "work" being used in place of "methamphetamine".
Members of the Mongrel Mob and Black Power came together for a landmark meeting in Hamilton on a range of issues in 2018. Among those speaking at the event was Senior Mongrel Mob Waikato member Mark Griffiths. Photo: STUFF / Dominico Zapata
The police began "live monitoring" of their communications in August 2020, and also managed to uncover some of their chats through "back-captured telecommunication text data". The co-conspirators eventually switched some of their discussions to the encrypted messaging app Signal - but by then it was too late.
The importation charge related to 2.4 kilograms of meth hidden inside a package of printer toner cartridges that was shipped from the United States to an address in Hamilton.
The delivery, covertly arranged by Griffiths and Elliott, was sent to New Zealand via the courier company DHL from "Big Blue Supplies". Unbeknown to the cohort, it was intercepted by Customs soon after its arrival in this country.
Meth thrown from a car window
Things came to a head in November 2020 when police intercepts revealed Griffiths and Marfell were heading to Auckland to buy meth from their Auckland supplier, Chanthawong.
The couple were followed by the police from Chanthawong's house to their home in Te Kowhai, where they attempted to stop them at a cordon. Griffiths hit the accelerator and drove through the cordon, and soon after threw a cardboard box out of the window of the car, before stopping further up the road.
But the throw was spotted by the police. Inside the box was 124.1 grams of methamphetamine, with a purity level of 78 percent.
The couple's home was searched following their arrest. Nine one litre bottles full of GBL liquid were found there.
On Tuesday morning Elliott also admitted charges of possessing methamphetamine for supply, possession of GBL for supply, supplying GBL, and participating in an organised criminal group.
On Wednesday morning John Griffiths pled guilty to charges of possession of methamphetamine for supply, and supplying methamphetamine. The possession charge is still subject to a forthcoming disputed facts hearing that will concern the quantity and the type of drug.
The pair will also be sentenced on the same day as Mark Griffiths.
Out of the gang and into trouble
At John Griffiths' arraignment, his counsel Paul Surridge told the court his client had severed ties with the Mongrel Mob, and "a lot of trouble has been visited on him" in prison as a result.
Griffiths had been segregated from the main prison population for his own safety, Surridge said.
At the time of Griffiths' arrest, Fatupaito confirmed his house was one of those that was searched by police, however he said no methamphetamine or weapons were found there.
However, other items such as laptops, iPads, cell phones, and documentation in relation to the warrants were seized.
He also said that the arrest of a senior member of the Waikato Mongrel Mob Kingdom was unrelated to searches of his property and the Kingdom's headquarters.
This story originally appeared on [ https://www.stuff.co.nz/ Stuff]