Gangs in New Zealand

Black Power was formed about 1970 in Wellington as the Black Bulls,[21] and its membership is primarily Māori and Pacific Islander. It has been involved with various kinds of crime, particularly drug dealing. Its symbol is the clenched fist of the American black power movement, and their colours are blue and black.

In 1977 the Nomads split from Black Power.[22]

The Head Hunters motorcycle club is one of the fastest growing motorcycle clubs in the country. It has chapters in West Auckland, Wellsford, Northland and most recently Wellington and Christchurch after patching over the Epitaph Riders.[23] Its beginning is said to go back to 1967 and has been historically tied to West Auckland although it maintains a presence in Ellerslie through a senior member.[24][25] In 2011 members of the Sinn Fein motorcycle club in Wellington have patched over to become part of the Head Hunters motorcycle club.[26]

The King Cobras are a Central Auckland-based gang[27] with its origins born out of the Polynesian Panthers in the early 1970s whose ranks are predominantly Polynesian but not exclusive of others. Their reputed turf is reported to stretch from the Downtown area to Mangere Papatoetoe and Manurewa.[28] The Cobras also have links and associations with activity in the far north Moerewa Whangarei and North Shore,[29] and an established presence as far south as the Hutt Valley and the Wellington area.[30] In 2009 it was reported that members of the gang had been involved in a multimillion-dollar methamphetamine drug ring organised within Paremoremo Prison, and previously ran another large drug ring along with the Head Hunters.[31] The Cobras maintained a headquarters in Ponsonby up until August 2011 as they are reported to be shifting premises.[27][32]

In 2012, the notorious worldwide Motorcycle Club known as the Bandidos set up in South Auckland [33] and later established a second chapter in Christchurch.[34] The Bandidos have gone on to establish prospect chapters in Dunedin and Invercargill.[35][36]

The Hells Angels motorcycle club founded a chapter in Auckland in 1961 and has since taken over gangs in Wanganui. New Zealand had the first chapter of the Hells Angels outside the US.[1]

In 2011 the club made headlines when it tried to register a lottery.[37] It made headlines again in late 2015 when it shutdown Nelson's long-standing Lost Breed MC to stamp its mark on the city.[38]

Highway 61 members in Wellington, New Zealand

The Highway 61 motorcycle club was founded in 1968 and was the largest outlaw motorcycle club in New Zealand during the 1980s, 90s up until 2010.[39] It has chapters in Auckland, Hastings, Rotorua, Northland, Wellington and Christchurch, and by 2008 had expanded into Brisbane Sydney and the Gold Coast in eastern Australia.[40] They are mainly European and Maori in descent.

The Mongrel Mob was formed and organised in Hastings and Wellington in the early 1960s. Originally consisting of Pakeha youth, it became primarily Māori and Pacific Islander, like its Black Power rivals. The gang has been active in organised crime and has been involved in several murders. Its symbol is a bulldog wearing a German Stahlhelm helmet, and the gang makes use of other Nazi imagery. Their colours are red and black. The Mongrel Mob is currently the largest gang in New Zealand.[41]

In 2010 members of the Australian motorcycle club the Rebels have announced they will be establishing a presence in New Zealand in 2011. Rebels MC members have been sighted wearing their patches in various places throughout the North Island in early 2011.[42]

The Road Knights motorcycle club operates in the South Island.[43] They are based in Invercargill, Timaru and Dunedin.[44]

The Tribesmen is a prominently Māori motorcycle club formed in the 1980s in Otara, they have a presence in South Auckland and as far south as Rotorua[45] and Murupara.[46] The Tribesmen are also rivals with the Mongrel Mob.[47]

The Tribesmen have a feeder youth street gang called Killer Beez (sometimes Killer Bees, Killabeez, or KBZ),[48] possibly a reference to the hip hop group Killa Beez, a name given to Wu-Tang Clan affiliates who also wear yellow and black.[49] Killer Beez was headed by Josh Marsters,[50] formerly a vice-president of the Tribesmen gang. Marsters was one of 44 people from both gangs arrested in a police swoop in May 2008. In total 60 Killer Beez were arrested in an operation[51] that involved 110,000 intercepted messages.[52] Charges included supplying methamphetamine, conspiracy to supply methamphetamine and money laundering. Masters pleaded guilty but as of October 2011 was fighting to have that overturned.[53][54]

In 2011 Vila Lemanu was the most senior Killer Beez member not in prison, he was on the run for several months[55] before having his conviction quashed by the Court of Appeal and a new trial ordered.[56]

The Killer Beez controlled the record label Colourway Records[57] until all its assets were seized in 2008.[58]

The Red Devils Motorcycle Club has a presence in Mt Eden along with strong ties to the Hells Angels . In 2012 the club was involved in a high-profile anti-drug operation which later fell apart under heavy scrutiny in court. A range of charges laid against twenty one club members and associates were stayed, and later dropped altogether, in the belief that police had committed a "gross abuse of process" in posing as court officials to obtain a fake arrest warrant. The case against the club was officially dropped in early 2015 with the final charges dismissed on 1 July. Police now believe that the Nelson chapter has become a full-fledged prospect chapter of the Hells Angels.[59][60][61][62]

• Devils Henchmen MC (Timaru)[63]
• Filthy Few MC (Tauranga, Rotorua, Waihi and Matamata)[64]
• Greasy Dogs (Mount Maunganui)[65]
• Huhu MC (Tokoroa), started as a largely bush crew from the early 1950s, MC in the early 1970s.[66]
• Lost Breed (Nelson) - defunct
• Magogs MC (New Plymouth)[67][68][69]
• Outlaws MC (Napier - patched over to the international club in mid-2014)[70]
• Satans Slaves MC (Wellington)[71]

• 14K Triad - Hong Kong-based Chinese triad gang, with activity in Auckland area.[72]
• Tribal Huk (Ngāruawāhia)[73]
• FBI's (Full Blooded Islanders) - Pacific Islanders - Wellington[74]
• Right Wing Resistance - A white supremacist skinhead gang formed by Kyle Chapman, based originally in Christchurch, but claims to have a presence across the country.
• Fourth Reich (New Zealand gang) - A white supremacist skinhead gang.

Street/youth gangs

• Junior Don Kings (Roskill South)[75]
• Darksiders (connected to Black Power, Wellington)[74][76][77]
• Dope Money Sex (Central Auckland) (also under the Crips umbrella).[78]
• T.O.C. (Thugs of Canal) Avondale-based street gang which is named after the street they hold ground on.[79]
• J.C.B. (Junior Crip Boys) Otahuhu-based Crip gang.[79]