Newstalk ZB
A kingpin of a Waikato-based drug syndicate involved in the large-scale distribution ofdrugs used fellow family members to help launder his ill-gotten gains, and even used Ubers to ferry drugs around. A month into their covert, Operation Hurricane, police estimated Madison Fraser-Webb had made $2 million in profit from the sale and supply of methamphetamine, cocaine, ketamine, LSD, MDMA, oxycodone, cannabis, zopiclone, and codeine, in which money was laundered primarily through assets and cryptocurrency. Fraser-Webb, known as “Crypto”, and a co-defendant would regularly rent and move between Airbnb properties where they would sell drugs, while his family, including mother Ann Margaret Fraser, and sister Cheyanne Fraser, would then pay the rentals and other bills. Ann Fraser, 58, and Cheyanne Fraser, 31, acted as Fraser-Webb’s “bank”, storing the profits in their own bank accounts and giving him cash when required. At one point, the family treated themselves to a cruise and bought assets, including vehicles, for their efforts. Fraser-Webb’s primary school teacher aunt, Debbie Maree Readhead, stored $400,000 on his behalf, while another associate, Barbara Shadbolt, 63, helped sell and source drugs. Fraser-Webb also had an Auckland co-defendant Uber large amounts of cocaine, P, LSD, and MDMA to his various rental properties. On one occasion, a firearm was also sent down via Uber. Fraser-Webb and his family appeared in the Hamilton District Court today for sentencing on a variety of charges before Judge Glen Marshall. ‘Crypto’ and his Uber drug operation Police launched Operation Hurricane on January 1, 2024. The following month, and after receiving a threat from a member of the Head Hunter gang for 25% of a $2 million profit he had made, Fraser-Webb bought a pistol for $8000. It was then Ubered to his Hamilton house from Auckland. Upon receiving it, Fraser-Webb told his co-defendant he was “a bit scared to open the package” as the firearm was loaded. Family members created cryptocurrency accounts on Binance, KuCoin, Coinbase, and Easy Crypto on Fraser-Webb’s behalf. Text messages between the family showed he would instruct them to send money into specific accounts. Multiple “seed phrases” were found at his mother’s property, including login details for his rental property. Analysis found $70,175 was received from unknown sources, with $15,200 deposited into Ann Fraser’s account, while Cheyanne Fraser used a small portion to pay for his rent. Police searched his Prescott Place, Hamilton property on July 22, 2024, and found a laptop, various cellphones, two fake NZ driver’s licences, along with 236g of cannabis, 13 MDMA pills, packets of oxycodone, two small snaplock bags of meth, and other medication. Fraser-Webb supplied, or offered to supply, about 625.5g of meth, 156g of cocaine, 200g of MDMA, 1.307 litres of GBL, 16.42 ounces of cannabis, and unknown quantities of ketamine and oxycodone to others. Texts revealed he talked with a co-defendant about arranging to make 110,000 tabs of LSD, and went to another associate’s house to “wash” 1kg of meth for sale. Fraser-Webb also discussed selling “at least” 4kg of cocaine. When police terminated the operation and searched the homes of the defendants, they uncovered a raft of drugs, pills, firearm ammunition, drug utensils, a coffee cart trailer, and cash. As well as his key role in the crime syndicate, Fraser-Webb ordered various electronic devices from PB Technologies’ website between April and June 2024 using fake identities and credit cards he wasn’t the owner of, totalling $10,772.63. ‘It’s not a major meth-dealing operation’ Crown Solicitor Jacinda Hamilton said Fraser Webb was driven by financial gain and labelled it a large-scale, drug-dealing operation that saw him make $2m in profit. Fraser-Webb’s counsel, Bill Nabney, said while his client accepted his leading role in the operation, he disagreed with the Crown that 625g of meth was a lot. “With all due respect, it’s...
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