“Police operation NOTUS, which brought down a devastating Mongrel Mob meth network in Kawerau, should be a blueprint for tackling gang crime, but these operations can only be seriously effective with law changes like those the ACT Party is advocating for,” says ACT Justice spokesperson Nicole McKee.

“For months now ACT has been saying the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act 2009 should be amended so that if Police find firearms at an illegal, gang-run operation their assets can be seized.

“We need to see the Police’s organised crime operations busting open the gangs dealing misery in our smaller communities, but at present there are not enough resources being allocated to community gang and drug crime prevention.

“It must be made easier for the Police to grab the ill-gotten assets of these entitled thugs. Communities know who the criminals in their towns are and how they do their business, but they cannot make a stand on their own. They understandably fear reprisal, which is why they need Police assistance.

“The Government promised 700 new Police to fight organised crime but have delivered only 239. Meanwhile there are small towns like Kawerau all over New Zealand needing these specialist Police.

“Around 10 per cent of Kawerau was buying meth and other drugs from the people who will now spend much of the next decade behind bars, but without the tenacity of an extremely frustrated local cop the operation that busted them would never have happened.

“ACT wants to see the law made fit for purpose so the Police can bring down so many more of these misery-peddling creeps.

“We know from the fact that the gangs are recruiting new members far quicker than the Police are recruiting new officers that there’s no shortage of them.”

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