Puk Kireka has left the Mighty Mongrel Mob after spending 10 years as a member of the gang
An infamous gangster who has ‘notorious’ tattooed across his face and once beefed with 50 Cent has opened up on how he kicked a meth addiction and left his violent past behind.
Puk Kireka was one of the most recognisable members of New Zealand’s Mighty Mongrel Mob – a gang with members of mostly Maori-descent, many of whom are convicted killers.
The Mongrels, who formed in Wellington and Hawkes Bay in the 1960s, have a tough code against outsiders, preferring to operate in the shadows. Many have prominent face tattoos that tell stories of their cultural past.
Kireka, who spent 10 years as a prominent member of the gang, said the birth of his child made him leave the gang that once gave him meaning.
‘I had to break the cycle. People came into my life and showed me what life was truly about,’ Kireka told Robett Hollis.
‘I was either going to end up in jail for a very long time or dead.’
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Kireka, who spent 10 years as a prominent member of the gang, said the birth of his child was the catalyst behind finding the resolve to leave the gang that once gave him meaning
The 33-year-old, who spent five of the 10 years he was a member in jail, attributed his upbringing as the motivator behind joining the Mongrels.
Kireka’s father, brother, uncles and cousins were all members of the gang, and after losing his dad when he was just seven years old he searched for role models within the group.
‘I didn’t know how to associate with anyone outside of the gang. I only knew how to be a gang member andI was really good at it,’ Kireka said.
Kireka said the birth of his third child, who he shares with three different women, as the moment where he could see life beyond the gang for the first time.
He admitted to being a bad father in the past, even taking his now 12-year-old boy to gang meetings and ‘dressing him up like a little gangster’ – a pattern he now has to reverse.
Kireka says he now wants to dedicate his life to his family and continue to fight the inner demons that still haunt him
The Mighty Mongrel Mob – a group with members of primarly Maori-descent, many of which are convicted murderers
‘He was starting to be attracted to that life so now I’m pulling him back slowly,’ Kireka said of his son.
Kireka was convicted of assaulting his partner in 2019 and said the incident was ‘the start of his change’.
The woman was knocked to the ground so hard she broke her nose. Kireka says he only ‘pushed her’ and pleaded guilty to the assault charge to ‘move forward’.
‘I was guilty of pushing her I’ll stand up and say that,’ Kireka says of the incident.
‘That was hard because I was trying to change and that happened. I thought should I just stay naughty because I didn’t get this backlash when I was still naughty.’
Kireka’s father, brother, uncles and cousins were all members of the gang, and after losing his dad when he was just seven years old he searched for role models within the group.
Kireka says he is motivated to be a good role model for his newborn child after admittedly being a bad father for his two older children
The 33-year-old admitted to being a bad father in the past, even taking his now 12-year-old boy to gang meetings and ‘dressing him up like a little gangster’ – a pattern he now has to reverse
The 33-year-old, who now is studying at university and has his own online fitness coaching business, admits his tattoo has proved exceedingly challenging in his post-gang life, stopping him from doing things as menial as going out for lunch.
Kireka says the tattoo is a tribute to friends within the Mongrels who have died, notably to suicide and drug addiction, and said he would wear it proudly because he wanted people to know he was a gangster.
‘I tattooed my face to remember them, they’re my brothers for life. I did not think about or care about what people would think. I wanted to wear this proud. There’s no undercover,’ Kireka told Robett Hollis.
‘I was in it for life. I was proud to walk around with this on my face and let everyone know it, this me, and I don’t care what you think. That was the attitude I had.
The Mighty Mongrel Mob have charters set up throughout New Zealand and even Australia
‘I didnt think when I got this tattoo that I wouldn’t be allowed to get into a lot of places. Now I can’t even go to places to get lunch because of the tattoo.
‘If I do go anywhere I’ve got to put makeup on if I wanna get in.’
Kireka says he now wants to dedicate his life to his family and continue to fight the inner demons that still haunt him.
The 33-year-old came into the spotlight in June last year when 50 Cent mocked him for attempting to raise money to go to university.
Kireka, who has ‘notorious’ tattooed across his face, is now working as a fitness coach
The American rapper 50 Cent commented on Kireka’s tattoo on Instagram, saying: ‘What the f*** is really going on man. I wonder why he can’t get a job.’
Kireka fired back at the rapper’s comments inviting him to come to New Zealand for a ‘chat’.
‘Someone like him to be mentioning me in his statuses, I feel privileged a little bit’, Kireka said in video footage.
‘But at the end of the day, if you’ve got something to say, come over.’
Kireka says the tattoo is a tribute to friends within the Mongrels who died, mostly to suicide and drug addiction
The 33-year-old came into the spotlight in June last year when 50 Cent mocked him for attempting to raise money to go to university
The Mighty Mongrel Mob was established in 1962 initially by Europeans who had moved to New Zealand. By the 1970s they had accepted Maoris into the group, who make up most of its membership today.
Their name was famously derived from a judge who described the group as a bunch of ‘mongrels’, a name that stuck among the youths in the gang.
Their patch features a British Bulldog wearing a German Stahlhelm, meant to be an insult to the English. They also feature Nazi swastikas on clothing and perform Nazi ‘seig heils’ as an attempt at going against cultural construct.
In 2013 the Mongrels had 934 members locked up, making up nearly 10% of New Zealand’s prison population.
There have been several public and violent clashes between the Mongrel Mob and their main rival the Black Power gang, most recently a gunfight in Whakatane in 2018.
The gang first expanded into Australia during the 2000s and have began setting up chapters around Queensland, particularly the Gold Coast. They also reportedly set up a charter in Canada in 2018.
The Mongrel Mob was established in 1962 and is one of New Zealand’s largest gangs.