Operation Beaver: How a $400,000 supercar crash started investigation which led to drug convictions
The Aston Martin Vanquish was a write-off. But Yichuan Zhang wasn’t worried about replacing the $400,000 vehicle.
One of his workers had crashed the supercar but Zhang’s only concern was to protect the identity of his client, the true owner of the vehicle.
Although the white Aston Martin was registered in the name of a woman living overseas, Zhang talked about “Brother Qiang’s” car and was anxious to remove certain items from the wreckage.
He rushed to the scene of the accident in Auckland but the police had already arrived.
In all likelihood, the uniformed officers might not have even seen anything suspicious.
But the detectives listening to Zhang’s phone calls on the day of the crash, May 13, 2021, knew they had to take a closer look.
He was a target in Operation Worthington, a covert investigation into professional money laundering, and had been recorded boasting of shifting more than $700,000 cash every week.
By following the money, the detectives were also able to identify a number of previously unknown drug dealers who used the cash exchange services.
One of these dodgy clients was “Brother Qiang”.
Later that day, the police executed a search warrant on the wrecked luxury car.
The officers found $30,000 cash, a diary with coded notes of courier tracking numbers, three cellphones, 15 Sim cards and documents which revealed the car’s true owner.
His name was Qiangqiang Chen.
A new investigation, Operation Beaver, was underway.
Despite owning a $400,000 car, Chen had no discernible legitimate income, had never filed a tax return and had no bank accounts in his name.
He was a frequent visitor to SkyCity casino, however. Gambling records show Chen had a total buy-in of $2.4 million.
Through painstaking analysis of the messages on the seized phones, cross-referenced with the courier tracking numbers and the Sim cards, the police were able to link Chen to 79 drug imports.
Customs had stopped 30 of the parcels at the border, with two others seized overseas.
A total of 25kg of methamphetamine, 46kg of ephedrine and 32kg of MDMA had been intercepted, although Chen had managed to distance himself until now.
Another 47 drug packages had been successfully delivered.
The evidence gathered by Operation Beaver revealed that Chen was working closely with a North Shore resident called Zhe Wang.
Some of the drug parcels were sent to addresses owned by Wang, or messages between the pair showed they were exchanging the courier details for incoming imports.
To disguise the profits of his drug dealing, Chen used the professional cash exchange services of Zhang.
One of the methods used to clean the dirty money was through buying expensive vehicles.
The Aston Martin Vanquish was funded through significant deposits made by shell companies purporting to operate in the construction industry.
The director of the construction companies was a 24-year-old from Mt Roskill who drove a 2007 BMW without a Warrant of Fitness.
“The use of young Chinese people to set up shell companies and accounts is something that was noted in the money-laundering investigation,” a police summary of the case said.
“[The director’s] vehicles and living situation is certainly not consistent with a person who has the money to make hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash transfers for the purchase of high-end cars.”
With the Aston Martin now a wreck, Chen was able to purchase a replacement vehicle just a few weeks later: a late-model Mercedes-Benz AMG worth $350,000.
While the Mercedes was registered in someone else’s name, police surveillance noted that Chen was the only person who drove the car – with one exception.
A patched member of the Head Hunters, Maika Gaitau, was also seen behind the wheel for a few weeks in February 2023.
Gaitau was a long-time friend of Wang; the pair lived on the same street in Glenfield for several years.
As well as being neighbours, the Head Hunter and Wang were also in the drug business together, phone messages retrieved by Operation Beaver said.
At some point, a deal between Gaitau and Chen went sour with their mutual associate Wang caught in the middle.
Gaitau believed that Chen owed him money, so he took the Mercedes-Benz as collateral until the perceived debt was repaid.
It was an example of the underworld practice of “taxing”, where criminals extort cash, drugs or valuables from other criminals through intimidation or violence.
“Taxing” is rarely reported to the police, as the victims are in fear of further retribution or exposing their own criminal behaviour.
A few months later, Operation Beaver ended with raids of 10 properties across Auckland. As well as methamphetamine, MDMA, ephedrine and 50kg of iodine – a key ingredient to manufacture meth – police found a number of firearms.
“It is a major win,” Detective Inspector Tom Gollan said at the time of the arrests.
Eventually, Chen and Wang pleaded guilty to dozens of drug and money laundering charges instead of going to trial.
Earlier this year, Chen was sentenced to nine years and nine months in prison. Wang received a term of five years as well as losing several homes and high-end cars forfeited under the Criminal Proceeds law.
Gaitau also admitted numerous drug charges and is due to be sentenced in February next year.
Zhang, the professional money launderer whose concern over the Aston Martin Vanquish kickstarted the entire investigation, was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison.
Jared Savage covers crime and justice issues, with a particular interest in organised crime. He joined the Herald in 2006 and has won a dozen journalism awards in that time, including twice being named Reporter of the Year. He is also the author of Gangland, Gangster’s Paradise and Underworld.