Operation Beaver: How a $400,000 supercar crash started investigation which led to drug convictions

New Zealand Herald · Jared Savage · 2026-11-06 16:00 UTC

The Aston Martin Vanquish was a write-off. The owner got a Mercedes Benz AMG instead.

The crash of an Aston Martin Vanquish during a money laundering inquiry led police to investigate the owner of the supercar, Qiangqiang Chen, as a drug importer during Operation Beaver. Photo / NZME illustration

The Aston Martin Vanquish was a write-off. But Yichuan Zhang wasn’t worried about replacing the $400,000 vehicle.

One of his workers had crashed the supercar but Zhang’s only concern was to protect the identity of his client, the true owner of the vehicle.

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