Talk:Killer Beez

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Gangs in New Zealand#Tribesmen MC / Killa Beez[edit]

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

What more in this article sub-section (see below) than is in this new article? What makes this "youth gang" and "feeder gang" notable for its own article? I do not see anything worth more than a list entry and a footnote. Please note that the main gang Tribesmen MC redirects to Gangs in New Zealand and does not have an article on it in Wikipedia. Jrcrin001 (talk) 06:36, 2 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]

The article has since been significantly expanded, so should we delete this section as the issue is resolved? Thomas Norren (talk) 21:57, 4 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

It’s not appropriate to delete old discussions, but sometimes it can be helpful to close them if they’re clearly resolved. (See more at Wikipedia:Talk page guidelines#Closing discussions.) Because this one is a bit messy with the citations I’ll just archive it now. — HTGS (talk) 01:18, 6 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Tribesmen MC / Killer Beez[edit]

The Tribesmen is a prominently Māori motorcycle club formed in the 1980s in Otara, they have a presence in South Auckland and as far south as Rotorua.^[1]

The Tribesmen have a feeder youth street gang called Killer Beez (sometimes Killer Bees or Killabeez),^[2] possibly a reference to the hip hop group Killa Beez, a name given to Wu-Tang Clan affiliates who also wear yellow and black.^[3] Killer Beez was headed by Josh Masters, formerly a vice-president of the Tribesmen gang. Masters was one of 44 people from both gangs arrested in a police swoop in May 2008. In total 60 Killer Beez were arrested an operation^[4] which involved 110,000 intercepted messages.^[5] Charges included supplying methamphetamine, conspiracy to supply methamphetamine and money laundering. Masters plead guilty but is currently (October 2011) fighting to have that overturned.^[6]^[7] In 2010 member Latu Savelio Halangingie Kepu killed Jason Palmer, a prison guard in Spring Hill Corrections Facility.

In 2011 Vila Lemanu was the most senior Killer Beez member not in prison, he was on the run for several months^[8] before having his conviction quashed by the Court of Appeal and a new trial ordered.^[9]

The Killer Beez controlled the record label Colourway Records^[10] until all its assets were seized in 2008.^[11]

References[edit]

^ "Rotorua man jailed for bar robbery". nzherald.co.nz. 2011 [last update]. Retrieved 8 October 2011. A Rotorua man was jailed for more than seven years today for his role in the armed robbery of a bar two years ago. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)
^ Savage, Jared (2011 [last update]). "Gang's NZ offsiders have notched up 170 years' jail time". nzherald.co.nz. Retrieved 8 October 2011. The Tribesmen have been weakened by successful police operations targeting the drug dealing of the gang and feeder gang the Killer Beez. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)
^ "New Zealand Parliament - Young people and gangs in New Zealand". parliament.nz. 2011 [last update]. Retrieved 8 October 2011. Publicity has surrounded the Killer Beez (KB), an affiliated criminal youth gang. Originally formed in Otara in 2003 to provide recruits to the Tribesmen gang, the KB identifying colours are yellow and black. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)
^ Laxon, Andrew (2011 [last update]). "Out in force on the mean streets". nzherald.co.nz. Retrieved 8 October 2011. But in 2008 police smashed both gangs wide open with a six-month cannabis and methamphetamine sting operation that arrested 60 Killer Beez members and put many of the gang's leaders in jail. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)
^ Stickley, Tony (2011 [last update]). "Police bugs track 110,000 gang messages". nzherald.co.nz. Retrieved 8 October 2011. Police intercepted more than 110,000 phone and text messages between the Killer Beez and Tribesmen gang members during a major three-month drug operation in South Auckland and the Waikato. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)
^ "Gang boss badly beaten in prison". stuff.co.nz. 2011 [last update]. Retrieved 8 October 2011. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)
^ Gay, Edward (28 September 2011). "Killer Beez boss seeks to have guilty plea revoked". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 8 October 2011.
^ Fox, Michael (7 October 2011). "Killer Beez boss on the run". Stuff. Retrieved 9 October 2011. Constable Louis Solia of Otara police said Lemanu was probably the most senior Killer Beez member on the street and warned he should not be approached.
^ "Vila Lemanu | Bag-snatch Co-Accused Sentence Quashed". Stuff. 2011 [last update]. Retrieved 12 December 2011. In August, the Court of Appeal quashed Shadrock's murder conviction and ordered a re-trial which is due to take place at the High Court in Auckland next June. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)
^ "New Zealand Parliament - Crimes Amendment Bill, Local Government Amendment Bill, Sentencing Amendment Bill (No 3) — Third Readings". parliament.nz. 2011 [last update]. Retrieved 8 October 2011. I ask members to consider a gang called the Killer Beez. It has its own hip-hop record label called Colourway Records. What does it do? It makes music videos—recruitment advertisements for gangs, thinly disguised as music videos, that are played on mainstream {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)
^ "44 in dock after drug raids". nzherald.co.nz. 2011 [last update]. Retrieved October 8, 2011. During the operation, police seized $200,000 in cash, 538g of pure methamphetamine with a street value of more than $500,000, nearly 400g of cannabis, 15 vehicles under the Proceeds of Crimes Act, 12 firearms and all the assets from the business premises of Colourway Records in Otara. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

[1] "Rotorua man jailed for bar robbery". nzherald.co.nz. 2011 [last update]. Retrieved 8 October 2011. A Rotorua man was jailed for more than seven years today for his role in the armed robbery of a bar two years ago. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)

[2] Savage, Jared (2011 [last update]). "Gang's NZ offsiders have notched up 170 years' jail time". nzherald.co.nz. Retrieved 8 October 2011. The Tribesmen have been weakened by successful police operations targeting the drug dealing of the gang and feeder gang the Killer Beez. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)

[3] "New Zealand Parliament - Young people and gangs in New Zealand". parliament.nz. 2011 [last update]. Retrieved 8 October 2011. Publicity has surrounded the Killer Beez (KB), an affiliated criminal youth gang. Originally formed in Otara in 2003 to provide recruits to the Tribesmen gang, the KB identifying colours are yellow and black. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)

[4] Laxon, Andrew (2011 [last update]). "Out in force on the mean streets". nzherald.co.nz. Retrieved 8 October 2011. But in 2008 police smashed both gangs wide open with a six-month cannabis and methamphetamine sting operation that arrested 60 Killer Beez members and put many of the gang's leaders in jail. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)

[5] Stickley, Tony (2011 [last update]). "Police bugs track 110,000 gang messages". nzherald.co.nz. Retrieved 8 October 2011. Police intercepted more than 110,000 phone and text messages between the Killer Beez and Tribesmen gang members during a major three-month drug operation in South Auckland and the Waikato. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)

[6] "Gang boss badly beaten in prison". stuff.co.nz. 2011 [last update]. Retrieved 8 October 2011. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)

[7] Gay, Edward (28 September 2011). "Killer Beez boss seeks to have guilty plea revoked". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 8 October 2011.

[8] Fox, Michael (7 October 2011). "Killer Beez boss on the run". Stuff. Retrieved 9 October 2011. Constable Louis Solia of Otara police said Lemanu was probably the most senior Killer Beez member on the street and warned he should not be approached.

[9] "Vila Lemanu | Bag-snatch Co-Accused Sentence Quashed". Stuff. 2011 [last update]. Retrieved 12 December 2011. In August, the Court of Appeal quashed Shadrock's murder conviction and ordered a re-trial which is due to take place at the High Court in Auckland next June. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)

[10] "New Zealand Parliament - Crimes Amendment Bill, Local Government Amendment Bill, Sentencing Amendment Bill (No 3) — Third Readings". parliament.nz. 2011 [last update]. Retrieved 8 October 2011. I ask members to consider a gang called the Killer Beez. It has its own hip-hop record label called Colourway Records. What does it do? It makes music videos—recruitment advertisements for gangs, thinly disguised as music videos, that are played on mainstream {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)

[11] "44 in dock after drug raids". nzherald.co.nz. 2011 [last update]. Retrieved October 8, 2011. During the operation, police seized $200,000 in cash, 538g of pure methamphetamine with a street value of more than $500,000, nearly 400g of cannabis, 15 vehicles under the Proceeds of Crimes Act, 12 firearms and all the assets from the business premises of Colourway Records in Otara. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)

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