International drug syndicate

Middlemore Foundation 'stands by' boxer Joseph Parker over alleged link to drug ring

After an almost a two-year court fight, the heavyweight fighter lost his bid to keep his name suppressed over the Crown’s claims he was connected to a gang that smuggled 20kg of meth into New Zealand through the post.

The Crown repeatedly mentioned Parker's name as it laid out its evidence in a 2019 trial of Tevita Matangi Fangupo, Tevita Sitanilei Kulu and Toni Rajendra Finau, who were later jailed.