Comancheros housed in own prison unit ‘Charlie’
More than 30 members of Australian motorcycle gang held in own wing
More than 30 members of the Comancheros gang, including their leader, are being held in their own wing of Mt Eden prison, the Herald on Sunday has learned.
Members of the Australian motorcycle gang, which is suspected of being a major force in Auckland’s criminal underworld, are being housed together in the “Charlie” unit of the remand facility, to keep them away from other prisoners.
Among them is Pasilika Naufahu, president of the Comancheros’ New Zealand arm, who is serving a 10-year sentence for money laundering and conspiracy to supply the class B drug pseudoephedrine.
A spokesperson for Corrections confirmed 33 members of the Comancheros were held in Mt Eden at the end of June, including 28 on remand and five who had already been sentenced.
Naufahu’s older brother, Vetekina, who was found guilty in May of possessing ecstasy and money laundering, is also understood to be in the same unit.
A prison source said about 15 staff were rostered to work in the Comancheros’ unit, and were rotated frequently.
According to the source, Naufahu’s cell door is not even locked. “There is a printed sign that is stuck on the inside of the cell door that says ‘a management plan’ which has a whole list of things they can or can’t have.
“It’s quite scary because they hold a lot of power within the prison and there has been a lot of contraband, mainly iPhones, that have been found. Pasilika is friendly, wellspoken and you can have a decent conversation with him. You can tell he has a lot of control and power over the unit. Anything he says goes.”
The gang leader’s wife and family visit him once a week, the source said.
“His wife is polite and always well presented. She wears nice designer clothes and wears Versace jewellery, that kind of thing.”
Naufahu appeared to be a model prisoner and was generally respectful to staff and kept his “boys” under control, the source said. “If he saw one of his boys going off or staring us down he would tell them to stop and de-escalate the situation and they would listen to him. But I also know the Comancheros have a lot of money and if they wanted to find you, they easily could.”
But the source said staff questioned why Naufahu and some of his fellow members were still at Mt Eden after being sentenced, instead of being transferred to the maximum security facility at Paremoremo, north of Auckland.
“It seems unfair the Comancheros are allowed to stay in remand prison because, generally speaking, prisoners are moved on to another prison once they’ve been sentenced.
Pasilika has been here for two years and our managers haven’t given us a reason why yet.”
Charlie is one of several units within Mt Eden. In January 2018, an inspection report gave a bleak assessment of the unit, concluding that cells were “unkempt and in poor condition”. The cells lacked basic privacy and basic comforts, the report said.
Prisoners improvised their own curtains, light shades and washing lines; some fashioned their own toilet lids so they didn’t have to eat and sleep next to open toilets.
The Corrections Department said: “Corrections has a comprehensive five-year gang strategy (2017-2021) and aims to: contain the negative influence of gang members in the custodial environment, disrupt the efforts and capabilities of gang members under our management to organise and commit crime from within prisons.
“Our staff are highly experienced at managing prisoner accommodation placement. This is a complex task that requires responding to a dynamic range of issues including gang tension, on a daily basis.”
According to the spokesperson, 57 members of the Comancheros are across the prison system, including 32 on remand and 25 who have been sentenced.
Naufahu was arrested as part of a covert police investigation called Operation Nova that targeted the Comancheros motorcycle Club.
More than 80 police officers were involved in the raids, which led to about $4 million of assets being seized, including firearms and several luxury vehicles including a RollsRoyce Wraith and gold-plated HarleyDavidson motorcycles.
Naufahu was the middle of six children. His family had moved to Australia when he was a year old. His defence lawyer, Ron Mansfield QC, has previously said Naufahu had been deported from Australia as a 501 and didn’t have a support network when he arrived.
“He is intelligent. He is capable. He is charismatic.”
One high-profile criminal who was moved from remand at Mt Eden to Paremoremo was Jesse Kempson, who was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of a non-parole period of 17 years for murdering British backpacker Grace Millane.
The source who spoke to the Herald on Sunday about the Comancheros recalled of Kempson’s time at Mt Eden: “Kempson was interesting and friendly but you could tell straight away he was incredibly manipulative.”