A two-year police operation dismantled a multimillion-dollar drug network, resulting in jail for Tribesmen members and associates. Al Williams takes a look at the operation that exploited gaps in airport security, using commercial flights and tow trucks to move drugs and cash. Ricky Poa lived a lavish lifestyle, often travelling business class abroad and driving cars that cost six figures. He sat atop a multimillion-dollar drug empire, but always at arm’s length from his minions. In conversations he had with a Thai citizen he met during one of his trips, Poa boasted about his wealth and positioned himself near the throne of a gang hierarchy. He paid for the Thai citizen to visit him in New Zealand to “see my country and see my gang”. Behind the wealth was a weakness in regional airport security that allowed Poa’s operation to flourish. It was widely known that smaller airports didn’t have the luggage-scanning machines used at larger ones. It allowed the transport of large quantities of drugs without detection by authorities. The drugs were picked up in Auckland and driven to Hamilton and Rotorua. They were then flown to Christchurch for distribution. Meanwhile, Poa, 33 and legally unemployed, was travelling to Thailand and Indonesia where he stayed in luxury accommodation. He lived in Thailand for several months and gang associates and family members took regular trips to visit him, funded by Poa despite him having no legitimate source of income. He owned or used several high-value vehicles, including a $65,000 2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee, a $149,000 2021 Mercedes-Benz and a $159,500 2021 BMW X5 SUV. While he was flaunting his wealth and bragging about his status, his minions were kept busy operating the multimillion-dollar meth and cocaine supply network out of Christchurch. Ricky Poa (left) and Blake Harpur at Cany Customs, Rangiora, in September 2023. Poa was the principal offender, leader and the main financial beneficiary of the drug-dealing activity. Known as Sarge, Bigko and Rick, he instructed his troops to do the groundwork. He was responsible primarily for sourcing significant quantities of the drugs from organised criminal groups in Auckland and elsewhere. Consistent with that role, he did not have the drugs or cash in his possession. As the operation expanded, the South Island National Organised Crime Group caught its scent and a team of 20 officers worked day and night to bring it down. Poa’s days of international travel, luxury accommodation and flash cars are now a distant memory. They came to an end in late 2023 when the group were busted as part of Operation Italian Sky. The national vice-president of the Tribesmen Motorcycle gang was in custody as the operation identified 11 members and associates of the Tribesmen operating a meth and cocaine supply network. All of them have now been convicted and sentenced. A ‘family’ affair For more than two years, Poa was supported by Michael Erikson, one of his most trusted patched members who managed transport and storage of the drugs and cash. He was Poa’s most loyal and reliable associate and has Poa’s nickname, Sarge, tattooed on his face. Erikson, known as Sweets, and his brother, Jaxxon, a prospect known as Big Boy, were responsible for managing the first of two supply lines. That involved receiving wholesale kilogram quantities of methamphetamine and cocaine and distributing them through the network. The Erikson brothers arranged for their mother, Sherryn, to receive and store drugs and cash at her Blockhouse Bay home in Auckland and, on their instruction, she handed over drugs and cash to others, including their cousin, Jordan Rapana, and, later, Tramayne Rauhihi. Sherryn Erikson was sentenced in the High Court at Christchurch for her role in a multimillion-dollar methamphetamine and cocaine supply network based in Christchurch. Erikson was charged with permitting her Blockhouse Bay, Auckland house to be used as a drop-off and collection point. The Erikson br...