Cocaine stripper shipped back to Melbourne

Matthew Hodder went by the names "Matty Thunder” and “DIY Dave” during his time as an exotic performer.

An Australian stripper who came to Dunedin to retrieve $27m of cocaine has been sent home. 

An Australian stripper who came to Dunedin to retrieve $27m of cocaine has been sent home.

Matthew Luke Hodder, 33, was allowed to fly back to Melbourne in February, parole documents have confirmed.

Hodder, who previously went by the names ‘‘Matty Thunder’’ and ‘‘DIY Dave’’ during his time as an exotic performer, flew to the country with 48-year-old Portuguese national Carlos Davide Ferreira-Sampaio in September 2022.

The pair – acting on behalf of an international crime syndicate – were initially tasked with retrieving the 91kg cocaine haul from the hull of a container ship in Melbourne but were deterred by police presence.

So they continued to Port Otago where the 254m vessel, Spirit of Auckland, was next docking.

Unbeknown to the pair, the massive class-A drug stash had been removed by US authorities when the ship was in Philadelphia and they remained under police surveillance as they undertook their futile efforts to secure the lucrative narcotics.

They were finally arrested in Dunedin after buying dive gear and searching the hull of the vessel in vain.

Hodder was jailed for four years two months while his handler Ferreira-Sampaio got five years two months.

Matthew Hodder is pictured in court. Photo: Rob Kidd

The former previously said he was offered $50,000 to do the job and only thought he would be doing “security on a boat”. 

The former previously said he was offered $50,000 to do the job and only thought he would be doing “security on a boat”.

The Parole Board heard Hodder had completed the Dependency Treatment Programme while at Whanganui Prison, had become a mentor on the course and his father had flown over for the graduation.

While panel convener Mary More said it was an “unusual situation”, she allowed the prisoner’s release after hearing from a private investigator.

That person said they would escort Hodder all the way to Melbourne and assured the board there would be at least one person with him at all times.

The inmate had previously said he planned to attend a residential rehabilitation facility once home but now wanted to live with his family and undertake individual sessions with a psychologist.

Aside from the arrangements for his exit, the only other parole condition imposed was that Hodder did not return to New Zealand.

Ferreira-Sampaio was deported in September.