Comanchero associate Samiu Tukuafu sentenced after AN0M drug bust

A drug-dealing associate of an outlaw motorcycle gang caught via an AN0M bust has learnt his fate after more than a year behind bars.

Samiu Tukuafu was sentenced in Wollongong District Court on Tuesday.

An Illawarra associate of the outlaw Comanchero bikie gang busted wheeling and dealing thousands of dollars of coke has been released from jail upon his sentencing.

Samiu Tukuafu faced Wollongong District Court via video link on Tuesday where he learnt his fate for supplying an indictable quantity of drugs and participating in a criminal group.

The 20-year-old came on the radar of police connected with Operation Ironside while using the encrypted messaging service AN0M where he went by the alias ‘JDoe’.

Tukuafu was living on Harbour Blvd, Shell Cove, in September, 2021, when police raided the address and arrested him, his older brother, Siaosi Tukuafu, and another man connected to a criminal syndicate supplying drugs up and down the South Coast.

Judge Andrew Haesler sentenced Tukuafu to two years and three months for his offending. Tukuafu had already served a year and two months behind bars, and the final year and one month will be served in the community as an intensive corrections order.

The sentence comes three weeks after Siaosi Tukuafu, 22, was jailed for eight years with a non-parole period of five for three counts of supplying a prohibited drug and one count of aggravated break and enter with a knife.

Samiu Tukuafu’s arrest came after the Australian Federal Police’s Operation Ironside was established.

Court documents stated the younger brother was in the middle of multiple cocaine deals across the region which were orchestrated using the AN0M app.

Tukuafu was monitored sending messages discussing pricing and the supply of an ounce of coke, which he would describe as an ‘8 ball’.

The documents said Takuafu would buy an ounce for $5500 before selling it for $6000.

The court heard Tukuafu supplied at least eight ounces of coke over a 15-month period in 2020 and 2021.

In addition to the ICO, Tukuafu was also ordered to report Community Corrections at Mount Druitt and complete 250 hours of community service.