Ethnic gangs have been in New Zealand so long they’ve become part of the landscape. Now they are mutating in ways too ugly to ignore. Inside the gangs and the police effort to check them.Photographs for TIME by Nigel Marple
Brothers’ Ink
Mimicking Maori warriors of old, many older gang members tattoo their faces to show their affiliation
Safety in Numbers
Te Kotahi, 37, kneeling at far right, has been in Black Power since he was 20. "People are naturally tribal," he says. "This is my family"
Old Guard
The youth gangs' drug use and weaponry worry lifelong Black Power member Dennis O'Reilly. He and his peers "are fossils," he says. "We are yesterday's men"
Tribal Roar
The feared Killer Bees youth gang is an offshoot of the Tribesmen, the country's only ethnic motorcycle gang
Youth Beat
South Auckland police share intelligence before hitting the streets on a gang-control operation
Identity Code
Hiding his face but signaling his allegiance with his hands, a young gang member is arrested after a fight
Handle with Care
Gang members arm themselves with anything from knives and guns to ripped-up fence palings
New Age
"We are changing, and the authorities don't like it," says Claude Kahika, head of the Mongrel Mob's Hastings chapter. "They are still of the old mindset"
Night’s for Fighting
Police have set up Youth Action Teams to tackle the surge in violence among teenagers
Hit and Run
In a single hour one rainy Saturday night, Auckland police attended four knifings within 1 sq. km
Woe Story
His attackers having fled, this youth is police officers' only source of information about the incident
Speak No Evil
"I fell over" was all this youth would say at first; he later said he'd been slashed with a box cutter
