Police are trying to find out how a gang member got hold of a .357 Magnum pistol, found this week when a property in Waipukurau was searched for drugs.
The man was one of six people arrested in a series of raids targeting the making and supply of pure methamphetamine, known as P.
Detective Sergeant Dave De Lange of Hastings CIB said that in addition to the gun, police found ammunition, more than 2000 LSD tabs - with a street value of over $80,000- suspected methamphetamine, cannabis and several thousand dollars in cash.
Police had no idea how the 33-year-old man charged with unlawful possession of the pistol would have obtained the weapon.
Mr De Lange said it could not be bought easily and a legal owner would need a special firearms licence.
Police are understood to have been aware that such a gun was in gang hands in Hawkes Bay, but the discovery came by chance.
- NZPA
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