New Zealand has more gangsters than soldiers
But they swear they’re turning over a new leaf
THE picturesque wine country of Hawkes Bay is hardly a classic gangland. Tourists come here to ogle art deco buildings or slurp merlot. But its less affluent suburbs are divided between bitter rivals: Black Power and the Mongrel Mob, New Zealand’s biggest gangs. This underworld occasionally rears its head, with, say, gunfire at a rugby game, or an assault outside a winery.
For a sleepy country, New Zealand has a peculiar problem with gangs. Police count over 5,300 members or “prospects” lining up to join one of its 25 listed groups, which together makes them a bigger force than the army. Unlike counterparts in other countries, they thrive in rural areas as well as cities. Almost a quarter of people living in the shabby bungalows of Flaxmere, a suburb in Hawkes Bay, are said to be linked to Black Power.
This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline "Bigger than the army"
Asia February 10th 2018
- The Philippines is struggling to rebuild after a fight with IS
- The conviction of Khaleda Zia hobbles Bangladesh’s opposition
- Asian leaders are in the vanguard of social media
- New Zealand has more gangsters than soldiers
- Tattooed foreigners are putting Japanese bath houses in a quandary
- South Koreans want the North at the Olympics, but not on their team
- The president of the Maldives has lost all legitimacy but kept his job
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