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Tongan police have arrested 17 suspects, including gangsters with New Zealand links and a top businessman, for allegedly smuggling and trafficking methamphetamine.
The police operation drew on intelligence from around the world, including New Zealand, Australia, Fiji, Samoa and the United States.
The arrests were all related and included members of the Comanchero gang.
“The Comancheros obviously wanted to expand their influence and therefore decided to form a chapter,” Tonga Police Commissioner Shane McLennan told 1News.
Among those arrested was senior member Eneasi Taumoefolau, who was deported from Australia in October 2022. For more than a year, Taumoefolau had been living a lavish lifestyle in one of Nuku’alofa’s top hotels and posting the experience on TikTok.
A businessman and several civil servants were also arrested.
In addition to arresting the suspects, police seized eight vehicles and gang paraphernalia, including 90 Comanchero T-shirts and 13 patches.
Those involved in the drug world told 1News many in power were involved.
“Tonga is a very small kingdom and their presence and any form of outlaw motorcycle elements is a major problem,” McLennan said.
He called the arrests made over the past week and a half “a significant milestone.”
Tonga’s Prime Minister Siosi Ofakiwahafulao Sovalenei said authorities were “doing their best at the moment but that doesn’t mean we are as good as we should be because we have challenges ahead of us”.
However, Sovaleni claimed that drug abuse is decreasing at the village level.
But the streets of downtown Nuku’alofa presented a different scene. In one neighborhood, 1News could see three drug-addicted men asking people for money.
Police believe some of the methamphetamine imported into Saudi Arabia is organized by inmates inside the prison.
One recent inmate told 1News that methamphetamine is everywhere in the prison.
“That was a surprise to me,” they said. “When I went in, there was more inside.”
Source: 1 News NZ
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