A Tongan man deported from Australia has been convicted over his role in establishing a branch of the feared Comancheros outlaw motorcycle gang in the Pacific Island nation, the ABC can reveal.
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ABC → deport → nation
In a landmark case, Eneasi Taumoefolau was found guilty by a judge in Tonga of participating in an organised criminal group under the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crimes Act.
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Taumoefolau → find → Act
It is the first time the law has been tested in court.
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law → test → court
He is facing a maximum sentence of 25 years and will be sentenced at a later date.
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He → face → date
Taumoefolau is currently serving a life sentence in Tonga's main prison over separate charges, having been convicted in 2025 of importing more than 2 kilograms of methamphetamine into Tonga from the United States.
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Taumoefolau → serve → States
Three other men were charged over the Comancheros case and put on trial.
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men → charge → trial
Tevita Shoji, a deportee from New Zealand, was found guilty, while two other deportees from Australia, Lolomana'ia Tilini and Sione Tafokitau, were found not guilty.
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deportees → find → Australia
Court documents revealed Taumoefolau was the president of the chapter in Tonga.
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Taumoefolau → reveal → Tonga
"Taumoefolau was regularly seen wearing Comanchero vests, riding a bike with the Comanchero label clearly displayed on it, and had a storage unit containing a significant amount of Comanchero uniforms and badges," Justice Elisapeti Langi wrote.
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Langi → see → uniforms
In an exclusive prison interview earlier this year with the ABC's Foreign Correspondent program, Taumoefolau denied having set up a Comancheros chapter in Tonga, saying he had plans to do so but abandoned them when he realised prospective members may not be criminally savvy enough to follow the gang's strict codes.
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members → deny → codes
Speaking on the phone from prison this week, Taumoefolau told the ABC he stands by that explanation.
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he → speak → explanation
"I don't know how they've come up with that decision to say it's been set up," he said.
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he → know → decision
"We have no clubhouse.
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We → have → clubhouse
We have no set-ups."
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We → have → ups
'We got gang work to do'
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We → got → work
Justice Langi said she was satisfied the defendants had formed a group based in part on "the physical evidence of a storage unit containing a significant number of Comanchero clothing and regalia together with telephone messages and conversations between all four defendants".
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defendants → say → defendants
Messages tendered as evidence show Taumoefolau saying to one of his co-accused, "We got gang work to do."
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We → tender → work
Evidence submitted to the court also revealed Taumoefolau was in regular communication with Shoji, who was a "nom", a term given to a nominee or prospective member of the gang.
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who → submit → gang
In one text exchange, Taumoefolau described Shoji as "the best nom eva (sic)".
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Taumoefolau → describe → eva
Police also submitted evidence Taumoefolau said he would provide a "nom" T-shirt to a drug offender serving time in a Tongan prison.
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he → submit → prison
Court documents also referred to text messages from July 2024 between Taumoefolau and a number in New Zealand.
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documents → refer → Zealand
They showed the New Zealand contact asking Taumoefolau to send photos to an individual in Auckland Prison.
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contact → show → Prison
The contact then warned Taumoefolau "not to post gang colors because gang flicks are not permitted" in prison.
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flicks → warn → prison
It is understood the individual in Auckland Prison was Pasilika Naufahu, the president of the Comancheros New Zealand branch.
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individual → understand → branch
About the same time, Taumoefolau and the New Zealand contact also discuss organising an annual "National Run" in Tonga, an event where club members gather for a motorcycle ride on a pre-determined route.
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members → discuss → route
The contact urged Taumoefolau to arrange food, drinks, accommodation and "taahines" (girls).
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contact → urge → food
Speaking to the ABC, Taumoefolau said he does not remember either of these conversations and said Naufahu had nothing to do with trying to set up the chapter in Tonga.
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Naufahu → speak → Tonga
Photos show search for gang paraphernalia
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Photos → show → paraphernalia
Taumoefolau and Shoji were the subject of a dramatic arrest in the Tongan capital in August 2024 that saw heavily armed officers from the tactical response group shoot into the engine block of Shoji's car.
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officers → see → car
Police found a bag containing methamphetamine inside.
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Police → find → methamphetamine
The ABC has obtained photos tendered as evidence in the trial that show Taumoefolau being taken by police as they search various locations for gang paraphernalia after his arrest.
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they → obtain → arrest
They show him being taken to a storage unit, rented in the name of his partner, where police discovered "bags of T-shirts with comanchero logo (sic) and signs", and "suitcases containing vests and labels of ranks".
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police → show → ranks
There is also a photo of him with police in the Nuku'alofa airport parking lot where police found more gang paraphernalia in a car that had previously been driven by Shoji, including a vest marked "Commander".
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that → be → vest
Taumoefolau said earlier this year his motivation for trying to establish a branch in Tonga was to "piss off the Australian government" who deported him in 2022 after a string of drug convictions.
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who → say → convictions
"It was just stupid," he said.
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he → say → ?
"I was reckless, and I was very ambitious in the way I thought, 'I'll do it because it'll really, really piss them off,'" he told Foreign Correspondent earlier this year.
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he → think → Correspondent
"It's 23 hour lockdown," he told the ABC this week.
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he → tell → ABC
Neither he nor prison officials could confirm why he's been removed from the general prison population.
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he → confirm → population
He says he plans to appeal the verdict in this case and his drug conviction.
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he → say → case
Are tides turning on Pacific drug scourge?
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tides → turn → scourge
…and 10 more, not listed.
The Aporia