The search for three missing climbers on Aoraki/Mt Cook remains on hold and Sevu Reece has been discharged without conviction following an incident at a Cup Day party last year.
A Kāpiti-based Mongrel Mob prospect was found with firearms and ammunition, prompting police investigations.
Police used the Firearms Registry to identify new sources of firearms to the criminal underworld.
To date, 66,777 licence holders, or 29%, have registered on the firearms register.
A Kāpiti-based Mongrel Mob prospect recently found with firearms and ammunition has been the catalyst for police identifying new sources of firearms to the criminal underworld – thanks to the Firearms Registry.
Police say they executed a search warrant at a Kāpiti Coast address on Friday, November 15.
They discovereda .22 rifle, a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun, two .22 magazines, more than 400 rounds of .22 ammunition, 25 shotgun slugs and buckshot shotgun ammunition, as well as two rifle silencers, and a significant amount of cannabis.
Six firearms and 13 Mongrel Mob Barbarian patches were seized across the North Island as part of Operation Highwater.
A check on the serial numbers on the firearms seized against the Firearms Registry quickly revealed the identity of the licence holder who should have been in possession of the guns.
After confirming the firearms hadn’t been reported stolen, that licence holder was served with a firearms licence suspension, the first step to being revoked.
Their firearms were seized, and they are now facing criminal charges related to the unlawful supply of firearms.
Flowing from connections identified from the original seized firearms, further search warrants have been executed, with other alleged firearms diverters being linked through the firearms records now available to police from the Firearms Registry.
“This is a great example of our communities being made safer because frontline police have been able to build a robust intelligence picture and follow good quality information from the Firearms Registry,” Wellington district investigations group’s Detective Senior Sergeant Mike Sears says.
“While the registry is not yet fully populated, it is already changing the game for us.
“Without the registry records linking the seized firearms to the suspect licence holders, the flow-on activity arguably would not have occurred.”
Police seized 14 firearms in Ashburton in an operation targeting illicit drugs. Photo / Supplied
Te Tari Pūreke–Firearms Safety Authority executive director Angela Brazier says New Zealand is seeing the supply of black-market firearms being disrupted because of the Firearms Registry.
So far, a total of 66,777 licence holders have registered on the firearms register, which equates to 29% of the active licence-holder population.
“Police are now chasing down where registered firearms are supposed to be, and asking why firearms registered to a licence holder are not in their possession.
“The registry is the critical connection point to all of this and is closing a gap we’ve had in the system.”
