Fugitive in drug case now facing extradition
Alleged mastermind of huge meth shipment to NZ being held in Spain
One of New Zealand’s most wanted fugitives has been arrested in Spain and could now be extradited here to face allegations that he masterminded one of the country’s largest drug shipments.
Around 500kg of methamphetamine was smuggled into the Bay of Plenty in April 2019 when a vessel from Whakatāne travelled nearly 200km offshore to meet the “mothership” and pick up the drugs.
The plot unravelled a few months later when police discovered two different caches of drugs — 193kg in Auckland and 210kg in Hamilton — and realised the individual 1kg parcels were packaged in identical fashion.
Five men were charged with possession of methamphetamine for supply in connection to the two massive stashes.
But detectives from the National Organised Crime Group traced the separate caches back to the single 500kg shipment into Whakatāne .
Anthony Charles Netzler, ninjutsu master and former bodyguard for various celebrities, pleaded guilty to importing a ClassA drug and was sentenced in December to 15 years and seven months in prison.
The 53-year-old Netzler had flown to Bangkok in December 2018 to meet with senior members of a criminal syndicate from Britain.
A plan was hatched, and in April 2019, Netzler travelled by boat to pick up the 500kg of meth from a catamaran at a rendezvous point in the middle of the sea.
At the time, the importation was the second largest in New Zealand history behind the 501kg of methamphetamine that was smuggled by boat onto Ninety Mile Beach in 2016.
However, the Weekend Herald can reveal that the police investigation, Operation Essex, did not just end with the prison sentences for those caught in New Zealand.
In a rare move, police believed they had gathered enough evidence to prosecute an Irish citizen living in Europe as the alleged crime boss who orchestrated the 500kg drug shipment picked up by Netzler.
Mark Byrne, 50, was charged in the Tauranga District Court last November with importing a ClassA drug, possession for supply, and participating in an organised criminal group.
A judge issued a warrant for the arrest of Byrne and formed the basis of an alert to Interpol, the global network of police forces.
His location was unknown, according to court documents.
But just a few months later, Byrne was arrested by Spanish police in January while on holiday at a ski resort in the Sierra Nevada.
“We were really blown away from the initiative and resources the Spanish police put into tracking Byrne down,” said Detective Inspector Paul Newman of the National Organised Crime Group.
A Spanish court will now determine whether Byrne will be extradited to New Zealand to face the drug and organised crime charges.
Newman said the decision to seek extradition of an alleged offender was not taken lightly, but going through the complicated legal process in cases such as Operation Essex would send a strong signal to organised crime figures overseas.
“Trans-national crime groups see New Zealand as a lucrative market and are trying to flood our country with drugs which really attack the heart of our communities and whanau,” said Newman.
“These types of arrests send a message that the world is getting smaller, that global law enforcement agencies are better connected and are working together to track down and hold these [alleged] offenders to account.”
If the extradition of Byrne is granted, the return of an overseasbased defendant alleged to have sent such a large amount of drugs into New Zealand would be a rare achievement.
While some alleged drug dealers have been extradited to stand trial, others like Duax Ngakuru — the Comancheros kingpin living in Turkey — remain out of reach so far.