Category: MIL-OSI

Source: New Zealand Police

A pair of alleged burglars discovered there is no distance Police won’t cover when it comes to holding people accountable for their crimes.

Auckland Central Police have been investigating a burglary at a High Street jewellery store on 30 May.

“Enquiries carried out by our staff revealed the alleged offenders used a rented vehicle to leave the scene,” Auckland City Area Investigations Manager Detective Senior Sergeant Martin Friend says.

“Further enquires carried out identified two individuals who reside in Ōpōtiki as being allegedly involved in the burglary.”

With the offender’s identified, the Auckland Central Tactical Crime Unit were able to establish the property had been taken into pawn shops in Rotorua.

“In total they have pawned 17 items of the stolen jewellery at a second-hand dealer, which we have been able to recover,” Detective Senior Sergeant Friend says.

“It’s another great result in Auckland Central in holding retail crime to account.

“We are sending a clear message that this type of brazen offending will not be tolerated.

A man and woman were arrested in Ōpōtiki this week and are before the Whakatāne District Court.

A 30-year-old female will appear on 1 July charged with receiving stolen property and being in a stolen vehicle.

A 27-year-old male was remanded in custody to appear on 17 July, charged with the unlawful taking of a motor vehicle and two counts of burglary.

ENDS

Amanda Wieneke/NZ Police
 

Source: New Zealand Police

Man’s best friend, a trusty dog owner and some speedy Police work potentially prevented car thefts in an East Auckland suburb early this morning.

A Greenlane resident who was woken by his dog barking around 3.45am investigated immediately.

“His trusty pooch had alerted him to two people outside his home apparently scoping out parked cars with a torch,” Inspector Jim Wilson, Auckland City East Area Commander, says.

But by the time Police arrived the pair were on the move and fled despite being signalled to stop.

“Police monitored the vehicle from a distance until The Police Helicopter arrived overhead to monitor the situation.”

The car was successfully spiked but kept going onto nearby Great South Road, and Police observed it driving on the wrong side of the road.

Inspector Wilson says a dog unit was deployed when the driver finally abandoned the vehicle at Garland Road and took off on foot. 

“He was apprehended nearby and received minor police dog bites and was given medical treatment,” Inspector Wilson says.

“A passenger remained in the vehicle and was arrested without incident.”

The 38-year-old driver is appearing in the Auckland District Court, charged with failing to stop, driving in a dangerous manner, possessing cannabis and possessing

an offensive weapon.

“Fortunately, it appears no vehicles in the street were successfully broken into and it goes to show the importance of vigilance,” Inspector Wilson says.

“After a busy night it’s left two smart dogs catching up on some much-needed sleep.”

Police remind the public to report suspicious activity as soon as possible by calling 111.

ENDS

Nicole Bremner/NZ Police 

Source: NZCTU

The union movement is sending its love and condolences to the whānau of MP for Tāmaki Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, following the shocking news of her passing.

“We are heartbroken for Takutai’s whānau, hapū and iwi, for the people of Tāmaki Makaurau, and for Te Pāti Māori at this sad time,” said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff.

“We deeply appreciate Takutai’s tireless dedication and service on behalf of her people, including as a staunch advocate for rangatahi and for some of the most marginalised whānau in Aotearoa.

“We acknowledge that as Te Pāti Māori’s spokesperson for Workers’ Rights, Takutai fought to ensure the rights of working people were upheld. 

“Takutai was a leader who had so much more to give, and will be missed dearly,” said Wagstaff.

Source: New Zealand Transport Agency

Contractors will be back at the site of an overslip on State Highway 6 at Dellows Bluff next week.

Rob Service, System Manager for Nelson/Tasman, says work is about to resume at the overslip site, which occurred during heavy rain in October last year.

“Contractors have already done work here, with rock blasting and tree removal done in February this year.”

“However, during this work, site investigations revealed the slip was far more complex, larger, and more fragile than originally thought,” Mr Service says.

He says the work was put on hold and plans for a fix were revised.

“We now have a plan in place and the first phase of it will begin next week.”

“Contractors will build a new access track south of the slip site, remove some trees, and build a landing from which further work can be done. We expect this to take about a month to complete,” Mr Service says.

To ensure both workers and drivers are kept safe while the tree-felling is underway and the new access track is being built, Mr Service says there will be  intermittent road closures during the day.

“We do not want to put traffic at risk from falling debris. So, there will be periods when we will have to stop traffic during the day between 7 am and 5.30 pm.”

“They will be no longer than 15-minutes and work crews will do their best to ensure drivers and the community aren’t too disrupted. Access for emergency services, school buses, and other critical transport will be prioritised,” Mr Service says.

Phase One work schedule

• Monday 30 June to Friday 25 July. Monday to Friday, 7:00am–5.30pm (weather permitting)
• Stop/Stop traffic management – expect delays of up to 15 minutes

Next steps

Mr Service says once the tree-felling is complete and the access track built, contractors will be able to resume stabilising the slip site.

“It is expected this will take one to two months to complete.”

We will have to put shipping containers back at the site to ensure the highway and traffic are protected from rockfalls, and work crews will do as much work as possible within the road shoulder,” Mr Service says.

However, he says there may be times when traffic will have to be stopped.

“If there are large boulders or other debris at risk of falling and endangering traffic, we will put safety first and use stop/go traffic management at the site. Though, this will be for short periods only.”

“We understand we are doing this work during winter, but it is time critical and cannot be delayed. This is a critical section of State Highway 6 and, with no local road detours, or alternative highway alignments available, it is essential the slip is stabilised and fixed as soon as possible,’ Mr Service says.

These works are weather-dependent, and schedules may change. Updates will be provided as the project progresses.

Project schedule

30 June–Late July: Tree felling and access track construction
Late July–August/September: Slope stabilisation
September: Pavement repair, including roadside drainage and shoulder works
Mid-October: Road reopened and back to normal level of service

Source: NZ Ministry for Primary Industries

Thousands of dollars of black-market seafood sales have cost 3 Southland commercial fishers and another man fines of $36,900.

Commercial fishers Michael Noel Hawke (61), Stuart Teiwi Ryan (48) and Peter George Fletcher (32) were sentenced in the Invercargill District Court having pleaded guilty to multiple charges under the Fisheries Act. Another man, Duncan William Davis (39) was sentenced on 2 charges under the Fisheries Act for illegally selling a large amount of kina, some pāua, and blue cod, following a successful prosecution by the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI).

Mr Hawke was fined $6,000, Mr Ryan $13,000, Mr Fletcher $3,900, and Mr Davis $14,000.

The prosecution was part of a larger 2023 investigation into illegal sales of kina, pāua, crayfish, blue cod, and oysters. Fishery officers gathered evidence of the illegal sales by studying seafood landing records and electronic communications between the fishers, black-market suppliers and potential buyers.

“Our investigation found Mr Hawke sold about 1,000 dredge oysters during the 2023 season that were not part of his allowable commercial take. They were his allowable recreational take and should have been in his landing report.

“Based on 2023 prices of $37 a dozen, the oysters were valued at more than $3,000. Bluff is the only wild oyster fishery in the world and selling fish illegally has a serious effect on sustainability,” says Greg Forbes, Fisheries New Zealand district manager.

The investigation found a deckhand aboard the fishing vessel was also selling his allowable recreational catch.

“Mr Ryan was found to have sold 114 crayfish and about 40 blue cod. Crayfish retails at about $140 a kilogram and blue cod $75 a kilogram. Mr Ryan made around $2,250 in illegal earnings.

“Most commercial fishers follow the rules because they want their fishery to remain sustainable into the future – black-market sales of recreational catch is a slap in the face to the majority of commercial fishers who do the right thing.”

Electronic evidence found Mr Davis, who is not a commercial fisher, sold seafood including up to 400 punnets of kina roe, some pāua, and blue cod on the black market he had either caught, or bought from Mr Ryan to resell.

“This was up to $5,000 of kina that was sold illegally and finfish valued at about $2,000. This was deliberate and the motivation was simply to make money.

Meanwhile, fishery officers found the third commercial fisher, Mr Fletcher, sold about 200 dredge oysters illegally on about 6 occasions.

“None of these fishers held permits allowing them to sell fish, nor were they licensed fish receivers or fish farmers. When we find evidence of deliberate illegal sales of seafood – we will take action.

“Poachers steal from everyone because the shared resources belong to all New Zealanders. Their behaviour also undermines the Quota Management System and our reputation for sustainable kaimoana,” Mr Forbes says.

MPI encourages people to report suspected illegal activity through the ministry’s 0800 4 POACHER number (0800 476 224)

For further information and general enquiries, call MPI on 0800 00 83 33 or email info@mpi.govt.nz

For media enquiries, contact the media team on 029 894 0328.

Source: New Zealand Police

Police have arrested and charged a second person in relation to a fatal crash in Rotorua on 15 June.

As a result of a search warrant yesterday, a 55-year-old man was arrested at a Rotorua address. He is due to appear in the Rotorua District Court today charged with accessory after the fact to manslaughter.

Detective Senior Sergeant Mark Van Kempen says the man also faces additional charges that are unrelated to the fatal crash on 15 June.

“While executing the warrant, staff discovered ammunition, cannabis and stolen property at the address.”

The man has also been charged with unlawful possession of ammunition, cultivating cannabis and receiving property (over $1000).

“Once again, we wish to thank the public for the assistance they have provided over the course of this investigation, which has been vital to making the two arrests we have made.”

ENDS

Issued by Police Media Centre

Source: NZ Department of Conservation

Date:  26 June 2025

Department of Conservation Supervisor Joshua Kilmister says the gate closure affects only larger powered vehicles and the track will remain open for walking and hunting during the winter months.

“In wet winter weather, larger vehicles damage track surfaces and drainage channels, affect visitor safety, and make it harder for us to manage the track for visitors.

“We already close this track to cyclists each winter, and now access will also be closed to quad bikes and light utility vehicles from the Mangapurua Trig.”

The Mangapurua Cycle Trail is a popular destination for visitors seeking to connect with the biodiversity, history, and culture of Whanganui National Park.

“We want to ensure a safe, quality experience for trampers through winter and we’re asking people to leave their powered vehicles behind. This is a seasonal closure, and full access will be restored in September,” says Joshua.

A lockable gate will be installed south of Mangapurua Trig closing Mangapurua Track to large, powered vehicles from Monday 30 June 2025. The track will reopen in September.

Contact

Source: New Zealand Police

Police can now release the name of the man who died following a crash on State Highway 2 south of Pahiatua on Thursday 15 May.

He was 38-year-old Troy Joseph Hawe-Ross, of Palmerston North.

Our thoughts are with those close to him at this difficult time.

Enquiries into the circumstances of the crash are ongoing.

ENDS

Issued by Police Media Centre

Source: New Zealand Police

At around 9:50am emergency services received reports of a two-vehicle crash on Tauranga Eastern Link Toll Road.

One person is critically injured.

The road is partially blocked and motorists are advised to avoid the area.

ENDS

Issued by the Police Media Centre.

Source: New Zealand Police

Police is seeking additional footage as part of the investigation into an alleged stabbing at the Pakuranga Night Markets.

Counties Manukau Police charged a 23-year-old man over the incident, who has been remanded in custody to reappear in court next month.

“We are aware a number of people filmed the violent assault taking place on Saturday evening,” Counties Manukau East Area Investigations Manager, Detective Senior Sergeant Dean Batey says.

“While we are not seeking anyone else in connection with the incident, this footage will be beneficial as part of the prosecution phase.”

Please contact Police if you have footage to provide.

You can update Police online now or call 105 using the reference number 250621/0744.

Meanwhile, Detective Senior Sergeant Batey says both victims are continuing to make a recovery after their ordeals.

“Police will be speaking with both victims further, and we can advise they are both in a stable condition in Middlemore Hospital.”

ENDS.

Jarred Williamson/NZ Police