Leader of Hells Angels criminal group from Romania, two New Zealanders arrested in a cocaine trafficking file

Marius Lazăr, the leader of the Romanian subsidiary of the world known criminal group Hells Angels, has been arrested, alongside two New Zealanders following a ruling by the Bucharest Court of Appeal in a cocaine trafficking file.

According to DIICOT prosecutors, the network was being coordinated by persons in detention in New Zealand, with drugs being trafficked from the United States to known organized crime groups from Europe and New Zealand.

Romanian organized crime prosecutors, in partnership with Homeland Security and DEA, have conducted eight searches in Ilfov and Bucharest in this case.

A thermal imager drone was essential in the investigation in Bucharest, opened at the request of the U.S. Justice Department, as it caught the precise moment when the negotiations to transport hundreds of kilos of cocaine were being arranged.

The investigation revealed that, immediately after the placing the drug order, by the leader of Hells Angesl New Zealand, the members of the criminal group, known as avid bikers, went to Bucharest to arrange the details of the transport.

“The members of this organized crime group obtained and distributed the drugs for the benefit of several other criminal gangs operating in the U.S., Europe and New Zealand. The leaders of the crime group, although currently in detention in New Zealand, negotiated through agents the purchase of large amounts of cocaine and methamphetamine, with the negotiations and transactions taking place in Romania”, said DIICOT prosecutor Mihaela Porime for Digi24.

The Hells Angels group, which is allegedly behind the transport, is known as a very dangerous gang, involved in drug trafficking, blackmail and extreme violent deeds.

The leader of Hells Angels Romania, Marius Lazăr, has been caught red-handed with EUR 50,000 cash and the property documents of two houses, representing part of the payment of the cocaine amount that should have arrived in Romania.

At the same time, the investigators caught at the meeting place of the criminals two New Zealanders, right after they had negotiated the payment of a cocaine transport that was to be sent in New Zealand. Michael Matthews Murray and Patrick Johnson Mar, along with the Romanian Marius Lazar might be extradited to the U.S. A ruling is pending in court in this respect on December 3.