Police eavesdrop on ex-international and Super Rugby player buying drugs

Author: Ric Stevens,
Publish Date: Tue, 25 Aug 2026, 3:55pm

Tony Lamborn in action for the Hurricanes. Photo / NZME

A former international and Super Rugby player was caught buying drugs when police eavesdropped on his phone.

Tony Andrew Lamborn, 34, appeared in the Hastings District Court on Tuesday for possession of cocaine.

He was fined $2000 by Judge Bernadette Arapere.

Lamborn debuted as a professional rugby player for the Hawke’s Bay Magpies in 2013 and later played for the Hurricanes and the Blues in Super Rugby.

With an American-born father, he also played 23 tests for the US men’s national team, the Eagles, including at the 2019 Rugby World Cup.

Contacted today, Lamborn said it was a case of “lesson learned ... it’s as simple as that”.

“I need to act my age and grow up,” he said.

According to a police summary of facts, Lamborn was caught as part of an investigation into the supply and sale of cocaine in Hawke’s Bay, carried out this year by the National Organised Crime Group.

They obtained warrants authorising them to intercept communications devices, including Lamborn’s.

On April 30, he twice called a dealer. The first call went to voicemail but the second was answered.

During the call, Lamborn arranged to buy 6g of cocaine and have it delivered to him at a bar in Havelock North.

Later the same afternoon, he called another person, whose identity is unknown, and confirmed he had taken some “treats”, which police believed referred to the cocaine he obtained earlier.

“During the call, the defendant discussed a hunting trip he was going on the following day with other associates,” the police summary said.

“The defendant advised that he was bringing the ‘treats’ on the hunting trip.”

On May 1, Lamborn called the same unknown associate and confirmed he was at an airport on his way to the hunting trip.

“He confirmed that he had carried the ‘treats’ through airport security and had brought them along on the trip.

“At one point during the call, the defendant referred to himself as a ‘reliable mule’, gloating about having transported drugs through security before.”

When questioned by police, he told them he had bought cocaine from the dealer but was “a user not a supplier”.

Ric Stevens spent many years working for the former New Zealand Press Association news agency, including as a political reporter at Parliament, before holding senior positions at various daily newspapers. He joined NZME’s Open Justice team in 2022 and is based in Hawke’s Bay. His writing in the crime and justice sphere is informed by four years of frontline experience as a probation officer.