US sanctions on drug traffickers linked to New Zealand

The United States has imposed a new set of sanctions targeting international drug traffickers across seven countries, including New Zealand, marking the first time individuals connected to the Oceania nation have faced U.S. punitive measures.

Announced by the U.S. Treasury on Tuesday, the sanctions designate 12 individuals and eight entities, as part of the Biden administration’s effort to combat the growing threat of synthetic drugs both in the U.S. and abroad.

The individuals and entities blacklisted include alleged European drug traffickers, financial networks from Europe, Colombian cocaine traffickers, and associates in Australia and New Zealand who facilitate drug trafficking into these countries. “Drug trafficking organizations continue to rely on a global web of producers, transporters, and sellers to bring their deadly wares to market,” said Bradley Smith, Acting Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. “The United States, leveraging our strong domestic and international partnerships, will continue to disrupt the financial networks that enable the illicit drug trade.”

Among those sanctioned, three individuals and two entities have direct connections to New Zealand. This is the first time that the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has applied sanctions to individuals with ties to New Zealand, sending a strong message that no matter where drug traffickers base themselves, they are not beyond reach. “This is the first time that the OFAC sanction has been applied to people with a New Zealand nexus and sends a clear message that wherever you base yourself you are not out of reach,” said Detective Superintendent Greg Williams of New Zealand Police’s National Organised Crime Group.

One of the individuals sanctioned is Lithuanian national Rokas Karpavicius, 44, who was charged in 1999 with conspiracy to import cocaine and methamphetamine by New Zealand authorities. He fled the country on a false passport before facing trial. Karpavicius became the primary target of a 2008 New Zealand law enforcement operation, revealing his role in coordinating drug exports from Europe to New Zealand. He was arrested at the Latvian border in 2012 and deported to New Zealand, where he was convicted on multiple drug and money laundering charges. After serving four years of his 11-year sentence, Karpavicius was deported to Lithuania, where he is believed to still reside.

Along with Karpavicius, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned another Lithuanian, Virginijus Labutis, 52, who has been involved in trafficking cocaine and methamphetamine from Central and South America to Europe, Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific Islands, and the United States. Labutis, like Karpavicius, was subject to a Red Notice earlier this year. The two Lithuanian nationals collaborated with Australian national David Jonathan Thackray, 43, and New Zealand’s Ho Kai Leung, 46, to import drugs into New Zealand.

New Zealand authorities note that Thackray was charged in 2014 with importing nearly a kilo of cocaine, while Leung, the director of New Zealand-registered companies JT Trading and TNK Trading, had previously been convicted for possessing and procuring methamphetamine and amphetamine.

The U.S. sanctions freeze all assets of those designated and prohibit U.S. persons from conducting business with them. “OFAC’s sanctioning of these individuals and entities sends a clear message that New Zealand is working in unison with its international partners to stop the threats to our borders,” Williams concluded.