The leader of a gang attempting to gain control of the drugs trade in the Bay of Plenty was nursing his own expensive cocaine habit at the time, a gang insider has told a High Court jury.

Nine senior members of the Mongols are on trial in Hamilton, on a raft of drugs and weapons charges.

It is one of biggest criminal trials in recent New Zealand history, and comes more than two years after police swooped on the gang.

Operation Silk, as it was called, resulted in the arrest of the entire senior hierarchy of the gang.

At the time of the arrests in June 2020, police said a gang war was brewing in the Bay of Plenty region, with numerous groups battling for the lion's share of the drug market there.

Among those on trial is the Mongols' national president, Jim David Thacker, also known as JD, who is charged alongside gang members Hone 'H1” Ronaki, Leon 'Wolf” Huritu, Jason '666” Ross, Kelly 'Rhino” Petrowski, Matthew Ramsden, Kane Ronaki, Te Reneti Tarau, and another man who has interim name suppression.

Tuesday's trial action began with more evidence given by a secret Crown witness who is appearing in court via audio-visual link from another location.

The witness, who had been employed as a driver by the gang, and operated under the name 'Wheelman”, spoke more about deliveries he made picking up and delivering methamphetamine and cocaine.

The gang were using cypher phones that they referred to as 'tings”, and the witness spoke of how he made numerous trips to Auckland to pick up methamphetamine from a contact who operated under the name 'B-Diddy”.

The pair would rendezvous in the car park of a McDonald's restaurant and, later, an aircraft viewing area near Auckland Airport to make the exchanges.

He would then drive straight back to his home near Te Puke where he 'sat on it and waited for further instructions”.

Those instructions were usually to courier the drugs to Christchurch, where he gave it to Ross in exchange for cash.

He also made twice-weekly trips to Auckland, at Thacker's request, to obtain cocaine for the gang leader.

'He had an extremely bad habit ... Easily an ounce a week”.

It wasn't just drugs. The witness told of stashing two AR15 guns in a park in Massey, Auckland, and later picking them up.

'The plan with those AR15s was to hit the 81s.”

'The 81s” refers to the rival Hell's Angels gang.

The witness said he handed over the guns to a contact known as Cruise, but retained the magazines 'so nothing could come back to me if there was a shooting”.

After a while, the gang obtained a new car, a black Toyota Corolla, for him to make his deliveries.

The vehicle 'supposedly had a good stook spot behind a cup holder in the centre console,” he said.

A 'stook” is a hiding place for drugs and other contraband – 'but it was no good because you could not get a kilo in there”.

He had been using his own Mazda Alexa to make the trips, 'but it had previously been used in a shooting and I couldn't have that back”.

Earlier, on Tuesday, the witness spoke about how Hone Ronaki, the gang's national vice president, operated what Crown prosecutor Anna Pollett had earlier described as a 'side hustle” out of the witness's home.

Ronaki had dropped off a large, padlocked toolbox at his home, which the witness had hidden in his wardrobe – alongside a suitcase and a 'swimming pool box” filled with guns.

Days later, Ronaki returned and asked the witness for an old dessert spoon that he didn't mind throwing away. Then he opened the toolbox, and 'pulled out a big bag of methamphetamine and started weighing it”.

After scooping the meth into little resealable bags, Ronaki then announced he was taking a trip to Whakatāne to sell the meth to Black Power members based in the town – a journey he repeated multiple times over the following months 'to give them their shit”.

'There were plenty of trips”.

More soon.

-Stuff/Mike Mather.