New Zealand

People

Although various forms of human trafficking are prevalent in New Zealand, the scale of the market is nevertheless fairly limited, particularly when considered in a global context. The human-trafficking market in New Zealand is characterized predominantly by forced labour and sexual exploitation. Migrant communities are particularly vulnerable to exploitative practices, including debt bondage, in several sectors, including agriculture, construction and hospitality. Furthermore, there are known instances of migrant workers, primarily from South-eastern Asia, being subjected to debt bondage, physical violence, psychological abuse and the confiscation of their passports on fishing vessels that sail in New Zealand territorial waters under foreign flags. Female foreign nationals are primarily lured into New Zealand under false pretences of legitimate employment in industries such as the hospitality and beauty sectors, only to be forced to work in brothels or on chat websites.

As with the human-trafficking market, the human-smuggling market in New Zealand is fairly limited. Although there are isolated cases of criminal actors providing fraudulent passports to foreign nationals in order to allow them entry to New Zealand, a culture of acceptance of immigration, strong border security and extremely low levels of corruption among border agencies in the country, combined, have thus far proven very successful in preventing organized-crime groups from taking hold of the human-smuggling market.

Trade

Until recently, New Zealand’s relatively lax gun laws allowed huge numbers of privately owned firearms to remain unregistered. In the wake of the 2019 Christchurch mosque shootings, new legislation, together with a weapons amnesty, has reduced the number of firearms available and increased reporting and ownership obligations. Nevertheless, there is a risk that the tightening of gun laws may exacerbate the black market for small and light weapons. One pressing concern in New Zealand is the increasing availability of firearms to gangs.

Environment

The environmental-crime markets in New Zealand are very limited in scope and scale. The logging sector in the country is well regulated, including timber imports, and illegal logging cases are few and far between. Similarly, fauna crimes are uncommon, although seizures of illegal wildlife products at New Zealand’s borders have increased substantially in recent years, suggesting the country’s role as a transit or destination country is increasing in significance, in particular for the illegal trade in ivory. Domestically, native jewelled geckos are the primary target for poaching and illegal export, but such incidents remain small in number. On the other hand, there appear to be limited evidence to support the involvement of organized crime groups in the illicit extraction or trafficking of minerals or other non-renewable resources.

Drugs

The drug markets are the country’s most pervasive organized criminal markets, particularly the synthetic-drug market. New Zealand is a destination country for methamphetamine originating primarily from North America, but also Central and Latin America. Domestic methamphetamine production, concentrated primarily on the North Island, appears to be on the rise. Organized-crime gangs are heavily involved in the methamphetamine market, in terms of both the manufacture and the importation of the drug. While the lower price of methamphetamine compared to certain other drugs in New Zealand suggests a high availability of the drug, it also likely indicates that no gang has a monopoly in the drug market.

Cannabis is also widely cultivated in New Zealand and is thought to be the second most widely consumed drug, after methamphetamine. Organized-crime groups are heavily involved in cannabis supply chains in the country. The heroin and cocaine markets are far less pervasive in New Zealand, in terms of both use and the country’s role in the transnational trade of the two drug types.

Criminal Actors

The face of organized crime in New Zealand is mafia-style gangs – both traditional ethnic gangs and motorcycle gangs – and gang membership has been on the rise in recent years. While different groups have their own geographical strongholds and may be involved in various criminal enterprises, the common thread is drugs, methamphetamine in particular. These gangs have amassed criminal networks that extend across New Zealand and internationally. Such groups have considerable control over certain territories and there is mounting evidence that gang leaders are reorganizing and professionalizing gang structures across the country. As a result, the threat of inter-gang violence has heightened. While loose criminal networks are less pervasive, they are prevalent in certain criminal markets, such as the human-trafficking market, for example, and tend to be concentrated in New Zealand’s cities.

Foreign criminal actors – in particular cartels from Latin America – are heavily involved in the drug trade in New Zealand. However, foreign actors are most prevalent in the human-smuggling and human-trafficking markets, with unauthorized immigration brokers running their operations in source countries free of any oversight to provide fraudulent documentation and facilitate the onward exploitation of migrant workers in New Zealand. Conversely, state-embedded actors are the least prevalent types of criminal actors in the country. While isolated cases of attempted or actual infiltration or corruption within law enforcement agencies by organized criminal actors have been reported, there is no evidence to suggest that state-embedded actors are systematically involved in, or turn a blind eye to, organized crime in New Zealand.

Leadership and governance

New Zealand is among the most stable democracies in the world. The October 2020 re-election of Jacinda Ardern as prime minister, with a sizeable majority, reflects high levels of public trust in her administration, which has only been heightened by her effective handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. The government has been vocal in its desire to combat transnational organized crime and has backed this up with increased investment for anti-organized crime efforts. Corruption levels in New Zealand are among the lowest in the world, thanks in large part to a robust rule of law and strong, independent oversight institutions. The country’s anti-corruption legislation is solid and budget transparency is extensive.

New Zealand is a party to all relevant international treaties and conventions pertaining to organized crime, including the UNTOC and its three Palermo protocols, the UN Convention against Corruption and the UN’s various conventions on narcotics and psychotropic substances. Furthermore, New Zealand’s extradition procedures enable swift extradition even to countries with whom they have not signed a bilateral agreement. New Zealand plays a crucial role in regional cooperation on matters pertaining to organized crime, participating in a number of multilateral organizations and forums, and providing substantial assistance to Pacific island countries to tackle transnational organized crime. Domestically, the government has published a holistic transnational organized crime strategy, due to run from 2020 to 2025, which aims to detect and disrupt organized crime, placing a particular emphasis on prevention and capacity building. The country also has a robust legal framework covering several organized-crime types, including the Gangs and Organized Crime Bill introduced in 2009.

Criminal justice and security

New Zealand has an independent and well-functioning judiciary that is free from corruption and undue political influence. However, prosecution levels of organized crime offences are low and prosecution of human trafficking offences, in particular, have decreased in the past year. Furthermore, pre-trial detention has increased in recent years following the relaxation of length restrictions and the tightening of bail conditions. New Zealand’s location as a remote island nation makes the country a popular destination for organized crime groups seeking to traffic various illegal commodities in the region. However, its isolation is also a natural barrier to certain forms of organized crime, such as human smuggling. Overall, law enforcement capacity is high, with a number of specialized anti-organized crime entities in place, including the Organised and Financial Crime Agency of New Zealand, the National Intelligence Centre and an anti-human trafficking operations group comprising immigration and law enforcement agencies to increase law enforcement cooperation.

Economic and financial environment

New Zealand has an extremely strong economy, relative to its size, and the regulatory environment in the country is robust and conducive to doing business. In 2019, prior to the pandemic, the unemployment rate reached its lowest level in over a decade and the informal sector in New Zealand as a share of national GDP is modest. However, the developed economy, strong regulatory and institutional frameworks, high degree of economic freedom and robust trade and communication infrastructure in the country also make it attractive to transnational organized criminals. Nevertheless, New Zealand remains a low-risk jurisdiction for money laundering and the government’s anti-money laundering framework is effective.

Civil society and social protection

New Zealand has an active and diverse civil society. A number of non-governmental organizations work on issues related to organized crime, such as human trafficking support groups, and groups supporting drug rehabilitation. The media is an important component of civil society in the country, operating freely and capable of holding the government to account.

The government and law enforcement agencies in New Zealand have placed significant importance on organized crime prevention efforts through the implementation of the national organized crime strategy, support for youth offenders and a focus on reducing recidivism rates. The government has continued to implement public awareness campaigns on issues relating to organized crime and has increased efforts to prevent human trafficking and illicit financial flows through public–private partnerships. The government also provides training for law enforcement officials on treatment procedures for victims of human trafficking, but there is significant scope for improvement in government-led victim support services. With regard to drug use, the government has made important progress in its harm reduction strategy, including an early warning system designed to detect new or particularly harmful substances in the illicit drug market, in addition to a needle exchange programme and other measures.