NZ gang member Shane Ngakuru admits FBI charges over selling encrypted ANOM phones for drug dealing, money laundering
In New Zealand, members of the Comancheros, Waikato Mongrel Mob and Head Hunters motorcycle gangs were arrested and charged with serious drug smuggling and money laundering offences.
The defendants are yet to stand trial due to legal arguments over whether the ANOM messages are admissible as evidence in court.
One of the men charged in the Hamilton District Court was Shane Ellwood Ngakuru, now 45, although he was not arrested at the time as he lived in Thailand.
Ngakuru is a member of the Comancheros and a cousin of Duax Ngakuru; the “supreme commander” of the outlaw motorcycle gang who is based in Turkey where he allegedly controlled a global drug empire.
However, Shane Ngakuru was also wanted by the United States.
He was named in a Department of Justice indictment which alleged Ngakuru was among a select group of criminals who distributed the ANOM communication devices to facilitate global drug trafficking, murder plots, and money laundering.
The FBI alleged Ngakuru was a distributor of the encrypted devices, receiving payments for the $2000 six-month subscription fees and able to remotely delete and reset devices, as well as communicating with the administrators of the encrypted communications platform.
AN0M was marketed as “designed by criminals for criminals” for the purpose of facilitating global drug trafficking and money laundering without being detected by law enforcement, according to the FBI.
By playing such an important role in distribution and technical support, Ngakuru was charged as part of the so-called ‘AN0M Enterprise’ under the US anti-racketeering legislation.
In October 2022, nearly one and a half years after the sting ended, Shane Ngakuru was arrested in Thailand and extradited to California to face prosecution.
The Herald can now reveal that he pleaded guilty to the racketeering conspiracy charge last month and is due to be sentenced in April.
Seven other defendants extradited back to the US have also pleaded guilty to the same charge, with some receiving sentences of five years in prison.
According to the plea deal, Ngakuru promoted the ANOM platform as “Built by criminals for criminals,” and touted security features such as the ability to wipe devices remotely when seized by law enforcement.
The ANOM criminal enterprise was responsible for the distribution of more than 12,000 devices in 100 countries. While ANOM’s criminal users unknowingly communicated on the system operated by law enforcement, agents catalogued more than 27 million messages between users around the world whose criminal discussions were covertly obtained and reviewed by the FBI.
ANOM devices were sold to and used by more than 300 criminal syndicates, including outlaw motorcycle gangs, Italian and Balkan organised crime groups, and international drug trafficking organisations.
Ngakuru admitted that the purpose of the conspiracy was to facilitate drug trafficking and money laundering, and that he sold ANOM devices knowing they would be used to import at least 50kg of cocaine.
He also admitted the importation, exportation, and distribution of at least 5kg of methamphetamine into New Zealand.
In total, Operation Trojan Shield resulted in approximately 1200 arrests; the seizure of more than 12 tonnes of cocaine, three tonnes of methamphetamine or amphetamines; 17 tonnes of precursor chemicals, 300 firearms, and the equivalent of $100 million in various currencies.
More than 150 threats to life were also prevented.
“The statistics of this case are staggering,” said US Attorney Tara McGrath in announcing the guilty pleas of Ngakuru and the other ANOM conspirators.
“The FBI led this unprecedented collaboration for years, harnessing the evidence to bring down cocaine, meth, and cash traffickers across the globe. These guilty pleas underscore the impact of international partnerships in dismantling organised crime.”
Like Shane Ngakuru, his cousin Duax also managed to evade arrest in Turkey at the time of Operation Trojan Shield.
The “Supreme Commander” of the Comancheros was taken into custody by Turkish authorities in November 2023, with his close friend Hakan Ayik and 35 other members of their alleged transnational drug empire.
The pair are alleged to sit at a round table of organised crime figures who control major drug smuggling routes around the world, including Australia and New Zealand, and were the principal targets of the FBI sting.
Turkish authorities also seized an estimated $250m of assets.
“Gang leaders … came to our country and continue their criminal activities, and try to deliver the drugs they procured from South America to Australia, the Netherlands and Hong Kong via South Korea and South Africa, and commit them on a global scale,” Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said in a statement.
“It has been determined that they are trying to launder the income they obtained from crimes in our country.”
Jared Savage covers crime and justice issues, with a particular interest in organised crime. He joined the Herald in 2006 and has won a dozen journalism awards in that time, including twice being named Reporter of the Year. He is also the author of Gangland and Gangster’s Paradise.