Organised Crime in New Zealand - Global threat, local impact.

The Organised & Financial Crime Agency of New Zealand (OFCANZ) has today released the 2010 Organised Crime Assessment for New Zealand.

The Organised Crime Assessment, prepared by the New Zealand Police National Intelligence Centre (NIC), combines information and intelligence from a range of Government agencies involved in combating organised crime. It is the first time the annual assessment has been publicly released.

OFCANZ director, Malcolm Burgess says the multi-agency assessment is being made public to help people understand what organised crime in New Zealand looks like.

"It's more than just drugs and guns. Organised criminals are involved in a wide-range of illicit markets including environmental crime, intellectual property crime and fraud."

"The assessment sets out some quite complicated information in plain language and clearly sets out what and who we are after."

"There are some good examples in there of operations and cases that have been run and I would encourage people to have a read of it."

"The assessment also provides a valuable context to the strategies and operations agencies are deploying to counteract organised crime and to protect our communities."

"The solution to disrupting and dismantling organised crime lies in a sustained, collaborative effort across Government, with our international partners, with the private sector and the general public."

"The job of OFCANZ is to encourage and sustain that collaborative effort, to run operations that target criminal networks right across New Zealand and overseas, to assist with policy and legislation to close the gaps criminal networks exploit and to increase public awareness.

"We want to make New Zealand an inhospitable environment for organised criminals."

OFCANZ targets organised crime through taskforce operations that combine the collective investigative and intelligence resources of a range of government agencies. The agency also calls on assistance from its international counterparts.

"When combined with a planned and sustained intelligence led investigation the multi-agency approach is a formidable opponent to organised criminals," Burgess said.

In July this year OFCANZ terminated its largest and most successful taskforce operation since it was established two years ago. The operation codenamed "Acacia" ended with raids on several properties including a financial exchange business operating in downtown Auckland. The taskforce involved OFCANZ, Police, Customs, Immigration and the Serious Fraud Office. International assistance was provided by authorities in Asia.

By the time it was finished the Acacia taskforce had busted a money laundering ring, seized $5 million dollars worth of methamphetamine, $500,000 in ContacNT, 21 firearms and 6 vehicles. Eight properties were restrained by the Police Asset Recovery Unit, along with a boat and marina berth. $420,000 cash was seized as well as two money counting machines. 16 people are now facing drug dealing charges that carry heavy custodial penalties.

Mr Burgess said operations like Acacia demonstrated the benefits of sharing information and a joined up enforcement effort.

"However, we are not all about enforcement. OFCANZ also has a role in increasing public awareness of organised crime."

"Organised crime is a global threat, but local in its impact and damage to our community. We want people to recognise that organised crime isn't something that happens somewhere else, it is just as likely to be going on in your street, in your community as anywhere else."

This assessment will help to inform people and make them more aware of the different forms that organised crime might take and hopefully, encourage them to act.

ENDS

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