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Duax "Dax" Hohepa Ngakuru (born 1980) is a New Zealand outlaw biker and alleged gangster.

Comanchero national president

Ngakuru was born in Rotorua, but grew up in Sydney.[1] He went to high school along with his alleged conspirator Hakan “Big Hux” Ayik.[2] He joined the Comanchero Motorcycle Club and rose up during the presidency of Mick Hawi.[1] He uses various aliases such as the Negotiator, Bullseye, Chuck Norris and El Mito (The Myth).[1] In 2009 after Hawi's arrest on charges of first degree murder, Ngakuru became the new "supreme commander" of the Comanchero.[3] On 29 December 2010, a tattoo parlor owned by Ngakuru in Coogee was bombed.[4] At the time, the Comanchero were involved in a dispute with the Notorious Motorcycle Club and the bombing of Ngakuru's tattoo shop was believed to be related to the dispute.[5] The dispute started in the spring of 2010 when the Comanchero kidnapped a Notorious drug dealer and forced him to reveal where a slash of Chinese heroin was hidden, which the Comanchero took for themselves.[6] As the heroin from China was worth $25 million Australian dollars, the loss was a sizable one to the Notorious gang, which started the biker war.[6]

In exile

In 2011, he fled Australia to Turkey, where he settled in self-imposed exile.[1] After his flight, Mark Buddle replaced him as the Comanchero national president.[3] The New Zealand Herald reported in 2023 about Ngakuru: "He’s accused of being behind some of the world’s biggest drug deals and is reportedly controlling business from Turkey, with an estimated wealth of more than $100 million".[1] In 2021, it was revealed that Ngakuru was sending texts on the ANOM messaging service that unknown to him were being read by the police in Australia and New Zealand.[7] In one of his texts, Ngakuru wrote that he had such "power and influence" in Turkey that he felt he was immune to arrest.[7] In another text, Ngakuru wrote that he felt he was “being able to get away with murder”.[7]

Unknown to Ngakuru the ANOM encrypted messaging service he used was owned by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and all of his texts were read by the FBI.[8] The FBI secretly purchased control of the ANOM messaging platform and installed a "backdoor" on the app that allowed the FBI to read millions of supposedly secure encrypted texts in Operation Trojan Shield.[9] Using information gained by the ANOM texts, the New Zealand police launched Operation Spyglass in 2021 that led to the seizure of 9 kilograms of methamphetamine plus four guns, 14 vehicles and motorbikes, a large amount of cannabis and more than $1 million New Zealand dollars in cash..[8] After Mark Buddle was extradited from Turkey to Australia in August 2022, Ngakuru was reported to have resumed his role as the Comanchero "supreme commander".[2] In October 2022, Ngakuru's cousin, Shane Ngakuru was arrested in Thailand on charges of being a "super-facilitator" between the Comanchero and the Asian crime syndicates in Southeast Asia.[10] A New Zealand police report defined the term as "A super-facilitator has links to a global network of manufacturers and supply and distribution chains to successfully import methamphetamine to New Zealand. The super-facilitator is usually based offshore and is never in direct contact with the shipment."[10]

In January 2023, he was arrested in Turkey and it was reported that Turkish authorities were in talks for Ngakuru's possible extradition to Australia or New Zealand.[1] At the time of his arrest, a series of photographs were released which showed Ngakuru having dinner in a posh Istanbul restaurant with Hawi and Ayik.[1] Another photograph showed Ngakuru on a luxury yacht in the Bosporus under a giant Turkish flag.[1] Together with Hakan Ayik, Ngakuru was alleged to have run from Istanbul a crime empire that was active in the Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, South Korea and Hong Kong.[11] At the time of his arrest, Ngakuru was living in a villa in the Sarıyer district of Istanbul.[12]

Books

  • Morton, James; Lobez, Susanna (2011). Gangland Sydney. Melbourne: Melbourne University Publishing. ISBN 9780522860399.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "New Zealand police confirm Kiwi-born Comancheros 'Supreme Commander' Duax Ngakuru arrested in Turkey". New Zealand Herald. 14 January 2023. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Kiwi-born bikie Duax Ngakuru becomes global head of Comanchero gang". News.hub. 1 February 2023. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  3. ^ a b Calligeros, Marissa (7 January 2014). "Comanchero boss arrested on Gold Coast". The Brisbane Times. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  4. ^ Kwek, Glenda (29 December 2010). "Coogee tattoo parlour run by bike gang petrol bombed". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  5. ^ Morton & Lobez 2011, p. 191.
  6. ^ a b Morton & Lobez 2011, p. 190.
  7. ^ a b c McKenzie, Niel (9 December 2021). "'Invulnerable to law enforcement': More alleged drug criminals outed by encrypted app". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  8. ^ a b Owen, Catrin (19 January 2023). "Wanted Comancheros 'supreme commander' arrested in Istanbul, Turkey". Stuff New Zealand. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  9. ^ Cox, Joseph (15 February 2023). "One of Anom's Top Alleged Sellers Flown to U.S. to Face Charges". Vice. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  10. ^ a b Bayer, Kurt (18 October 2022). "Comancheros member Shane Ngakuru, identified in FBI fake apps sting, arrested in Thailand". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  11. ^ Spicer, Keith (2 November 2023). "Turkey arrests alleged Australia drug kingpin in big crime bust". Reuters. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  12. ^ "Australia's most wanted gang leader caught in Istanbul". Hurriyet Daily News. 18 January 2023. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
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