Police took an armed man into custody early this morning, after a standoff at a petrol station in the Waikato township of Mercer.
There is no risk to motorists and the Waikato Expressway had been reopened after the man was taken into police custody at 1.35am.
Police late last night closed the Waikato Expressway - disrupting the travel plans of hundreds of motorists, some of whom told the Herald they had seen police with assault rifles at the scene.
In a media release just after 11.30pm police said they responded to a report of a man allegedly in a vehicle with a firearm at Mercer Mobil petrol station.They were first alerted to the vehicle in Manurewa and, with the assistance of the Eagle helicopter, followed it to the petrol station.
"Once the vehicle came to a stop, a female has exited the vehicle and advised police a male in the vehicle had a firearm with him."