 | It started with a tip from the Australian Border Force in August 2021. 556kg of meth was found in a rotary separator airfreighted from the Philippines. Had New Zealand cops seen anything similar? Indeed they had. Customs discovered that a nearly identical shipment from the same exporter had entered New Zealand two months earlier. It was too late to lasso the drugs, but cops were able to gather enough circumstantial evidence to bust Hells Angel Brandon St John Cole a year later. |
 | Cole had not been discreet about the financial windfall that came his way. He bought a new Harley, purchased in September 2021 for $31,700 cash, he purchased a Ford Ranger SUV in July 2021 for $50,000. The previous owner was handed a brown paper bag with five bundles of $10,000 in rolled-up $50 notes. He changed the plates to read OGBOSS. Cops traced $877,640 that was laundered by giving cash to linked businesses. The clever Cole had signed a lease to rent a factory in June 2021, seven days before the meth arrived there. He left $10,000 cash in the shipping agent’s mailbox to pay taxes and duty. |
 | Cops didn't state in court documents how much the meth was worth. The wholesale rate for a kilo of meth in NZ is anywhere from $160k to $200k. If sold for the lowest rate, the 450kg would have generated $72 million. In July 2022, police executed a search warrant at a storage unit rented by Cole. They found $2.4 million. An additional $49,950 cash was found at his home. Cole had nothing to say when busted. But police found a written note in his wallet recording the importation details and his alias John Adams. Cole was remanded in custody to await sentencing in November. |
