Former rugby league star Manu Vatuvei has been sentenced to three years and seven months in prison for importing methamphetamine.
The former NZ Warriors wing and Dancing with the Stars winner was sentenced alongside brother Lopini Mafi at the Manukau District Court Wednesday morning.
Lopini Mafi was sentenced to seven years and two months' imprisonment for his part in the operation, which was described as a leading role.
Fall from grace
Vatuvei, nicknamed 'The Beast, played 226 games for the Warriors, scoring a record 152 tries.
He represented New Zealand in 29 tests and played two for Mate Ma'a Tonga, before persistent injuries saw him retire in 2017.
Two years later, Vatuvei became a crowd favourite on Dancing with the Stars and went on to win the competition.
Last May, Vatuvei outed himself on social media as the unnamed sportsman facing drugs-related charges, just days before his name suppression was due to lapse.
He initially maintained his innocence, saying in the Instagram post: "In 2019, I was charged with importation, possession and supply of methamphetamine.
"All these charges are accusations and I'll be fighting my innocence for all these charges."
But in October, he admitted importing the Class A drug, pleading guilty to one representative charge of methamphetamine importation.
Today at his sentencing, Manu Vatuvei’s lawyer Vivienne Feyen said Vatuvei had joined the Warriors as a teenager, and had remained in a structured environment with a raft of guidance and support, until he left the organisation.
"He was ill equipped to make those fundamental life transitions," she said.
She told the court Vatuvei's role in the methamphetamine importation was one of assistance to his brother Lopini Mafi.
"He has fallen from grace, not a little but a long way," she said.
Police investigation
In October 2019, Counties Manukau Police and New Zealand Customs began an investigation into the importation of methamphetamine, involving Vatuvei and Mafi.
Packages containing the Class A drug were imported through the mail and sent to addresses that were easily accessible by the defendants, using the track-and-trace system.
Police say Mafi was chief in organising the importation, while Vatuvei assisted.
On October 21, a batch of goods described as 'sporting kits [clothes]' was intercepted at Auckland International Mail Centre. It contained 487.5 grams of methamphetamine, hidden in the handles of skipping ropes.
On November 21, police obtained a surveillance device warrant for Vatuvei and Mafi's phones.
Messages, which included the tracking number for the intercepted package, were exchanged by Vatuvei and another.
A week later, an undercover customs officer carried out a controlled delivery of the package to the defendants' address in Papatoetoe.
Mafi signed and accepted the delivery, before taking the package inside and opening it with Vatuvei.
Customs had removed most of the methamphetamine, replacing it with fake drugs, and a chemical marking powder had been put on the goods.
Less than 15 minutes after the delivery, police executed a search warrant at the property.
The defendants were found in possession of the methamphetamine concealed within the import and were both arrested.
Silver-coloured digital scales, an empty point bag containing white residue, a money counter, several cell phones and sim card packs were among the other items found at the address by police.
Clothing seized during Mafi and Vatuvei's arrests contained areas of orange fluorescence, indicating the presence of Lycopodium spores from the chemical marking powder that customs officers had put on the package.
Photographs of the two men's hands under ultra-violet light showed areas of fluorescence that could have been due to the presence of chemical marking powder.
