When 3000kg of iodine - a drug used to make methamphetamine - was stolen from Mainfreight in Tauranga, a police trail led them to a Rotorua man. Journalist Kelly Makiha reveals more about the man behind the drug syndicate.

A man at the centre of an international drug dealing ring that aimed to make up to $20 million a year is the son of a high-profile former drug lord who now helps criminals turn their lives around.

William Luke Macfarlane, 39, has admitted 16 charges relating to the importation and supply of GBL and MDMA and the importation of chemicals used to manufacture methamphetamine.

The Rotorua man would illegally buy the drugs and chemicals using the dark web and would pay for them with the cryptocurrency Bitcoin.

He is the son of Billy Macfarlane - the man behind a tikanga Māori-based programme for ex-offenders called Pūwhakamua. In his earlier life, Billy Macfarlane Snr was sentenced to 14 years in jail for his role in a large-scale methamphetamine dealing ring.

Billy Macfarlane Snr told the Rotorua Daily Post this week, in his view, his son wanted to be like him - but unfortunately, he turned out to be the man Macfarlane Snr used to be - not the man he was now.

Billy Macfarlane now uses Māori tikanga and te reo to turn criminals' lives around. Photo / Stephen Parker

Macfarlane Jnr appeared in the High Court at Rotorua on Friday last week and entered guilty pleas to 16 charges relating to his drug dealing.

His girlfriend, Charlotte Zelda Ward, 31, has pleaded guilty to seven charges for her role in keeping a spreadsheet of the names, addresses and tracking information of the imported packages from various courier companies.

Two others involved in the syndicate, Daniel McMeeking and Shilo Te Kani, have also pleaded guilty to three charges each relating to their roles.

• Fmr drug lord: Education can prevent youth entering gang lifestyle
• Police arrest 5, seize guns, drugs and cash in gang raid

A police summary of facts says Tauranga CIB started an investigation, codenamed Operation Schultz, in November 2019 after the theft of 3050kg of iodine pills from Mainfreight in Tauranga, valued at $228,000.

The amount of iodine was capable of producing 2318kg of methamphetamine that would have had a street value of $370m, the summary said.

A national police investigation team from Wellington had their eye on a commercial drug ring operating in Rotorua and Tauranga run by Macfarlane Jnr.

The summary said police noted Macfarlane Jnr booked into the Trinity Wharf Hotel on November 8, 2019.

The burglary at Mainfreight Transport at Mount Maunganui happened at 2am on November 10, 2019, when an unknown person or group stole 61 cardboard barrels, each containing 50kg of iodine from a locked shipping container stored within the Mainfreight Transport compound.

At 3.20am the same morning, a person or a group involved in the burglary went to the Trinity Wharf Hotel and met with Macfarlane Jnr where he was given 1600kg of the stolen iodine pills valued at $114,000, the summary said.

Police put Macfarlane Jnr under surveillance from July 2020 at his Lytton St house and identified he was involved in importing and supplying GBL and MDMA. He was also involved in importing ephedrine, iodine and hypophosphorous acid - drugs used to make methamphetamine.

He would arrange to have the drugs or chemicals sent to various people's houses under fictitious names and when they arrived, he would pick them up or have them delivered - each address holder would get paid $300 for their trouble.

The summary said Macfarlane Jnr would then supply the illegal goods to associates who would either onsell them or use them to make methamphetamine.

Charlotte Ward appears in the High Court at Rotorua and admits her role in a drug importing syndicate. Photo / Andrew Warner

The summary said Ward assisted Macfarlane Jnr and would keep track of the imports as well as arrange Bitcoin payments. She took over the role in late August 2020 and was not involved in his earlier offending.

The summary said the couple intended to make significant profits.

In one conversation, Macfarlane Jnr said to Ward to see if she could make $20 million in a year. She was already up to half a million and there were another 30 tracking numbers coming soon.

Police terminated the operation on September 29, 2020, and found Ward's phone that contained a spreadsheet containing 76 tracking numbers detailing dates, addresses and tracking updates of parcels.

New Zealand Customs intercepted 62 GBL packages between July and November 2020 going to 17 different addresses linked to Macfarlane Jnr and Ward. Most packages were seized by police and it was estimated they had a street value of $289,435.

Customs also intercepted four methamphetamine packages going to three different addresses linked to Macfarlane Jnr and Ward. The packages contained 200g of methamphetamine valued at $80,280.

A further three packages of methamphetamine were seized in the United States that were intended to go to addresses linked to the pair. These packages contained 612g of methamphetamine.

The summary said Macfarlane Jnr also supplied 133g of methamphetamine to a person in August 2020, arranged for another associate to manufacture 730g of methamphetamine and later offered to supply 28g to a contact in a courier company.

Between July and November 2020, New Zealand Customs intercepted three MDMA packages containing a total of 345g of the drug which was going to two different addresses linked to Macfarlane Jnr.

In court on Friday, Justice Graham Lang remanded Macfarlane Jnr in custody for sentencing on November 25.

Ward was remanded on continued electronic-monitoring bail until sentencing on November 25 but the judge noted it was not to be taken as an indication she would not receive a prison sentence.

McMeeking and Te Kani would also be sentenced on that date. McMeeking is on continued electronic-monitoring bail to allow him to continue rehabilitation and Te Kani is on bail.

Dad: I can't be in charge of his adult decisions

Billy Macfarlane Snr told the Rotorua Daily Post he was aware his son was up to no good and had been "poking the stick at him" but he could not take responsibility for his son's actions because he was now an adult.

In his view: "He just wanted to be like me. Now he is like me but he is like how I used to be, not how I am."

Billy Macfarlane during one of his course lessons with repeat offenders in February 2021. Photo / Andrew Warner

Macfarlane Snr said he was now estranged from his son because his actions flew in the face of what he now believed in.

"I'm trying to stand up and have some sort of mana in our community and I've got my older son doing that."

Macfarlane Snr was not around when his son was young and they only reconnected when he was a teenager.

"All the time spent with me as a teenager seeing all the money and drugs. If I had been doing something better he would have followed me into a better circle no doubt.

"I preach this to the men I work with. You have to watch what sort of legacy you are leaving for your children and grandchildren ... When I go into the prison now (to teach tikanga) there are heaps of sons of the men I was in prison with."

Macfarlane Snr said he did not have guilt, more understanding.

"I can't be in charge of his adult decisions. I tried to sway him on the right side of the law but I didn't have any influence but there's a bit of understanding from me, without a doubt he stepped into that life because of the life I led."

Macfarlane Snr said his son was smart and had previously run successful online businesses.

"He's got a really good business mind but unfortunately he's impatient."

He said the illegal importation of drugs using the Dark Web was "rampant" around the world.

"It's cheaper now to get it on the dark web than make it here. It's cheap as chips. You're never going to stop the supply, you need to stop the demand. Why do people feel the need to be taking drugs?"

Macfarlane Snr said his son was one of six children he had, including a new 4-month-old baby boy whom he named after a Ngāti Rangiwewehi leader.

He said his new son's upbringing would be different.

"He's not going to follow me into a drug house. He is going to follow me on to a marae."