Nearly $700,000 has been forfeited after an investigation into methamphetamine dealing three-years-ago resulted in the conviction of three people linked to the Mongrel Mob.
A police raid in March 2017 at a Porirua address found senior patched Mongrel Mob leader Mack Charles Hunt and his wife Fern Hine Puhitai Tawhai in possession of 94.6 grams of meth, over $40,000 in cash and guns.
In September that year, Tawhai was stopped by police and her car was searched, resulting in nearly $250,000 in cash found and seized.
Then in April 2021, Hunt was sentenced to four months of community detention and nine months of supervision after he was convicted for money laundering, the possession of meth for supply and attempting to pervert the couse of justice.
Another man, Kurt Adam Thomas was convicted in May 2021 for attempting to disguise who owned the cash found in Tawhai's car in 2017.
Charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice, he was sentenced to 80 hours of community work and five months supervision.
According to Detective Senior Sergeant Mike Fischer, Wellington's Central Asset Recovery Unit (CPRA) ran another inquiry into the arrests in 2017, alongside the police investigation.
"Police sought from the High Court in Wellington the fortfeiture of $692,461.60 in pursuant to the CPRA. This amount included cash totalling $291,681.59," he said.
The High Court ruled last week that the "seized cash was tainted by virtue of being derived from the significant criminal activity of methamphetamine sales".
Alongside the nearly $300,000 in cash seized, police estimated the trio had profited around $400,000 in methamphetamine sales during that period.
Two cars, belonging to Hunt and Tawhai, were also forfeited to the Crown.
Detective Senior Sergeant Fischer noted the ruling was "another example of police successfully targeting organised crime and the harm they cause in the community."
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