Mid-North police are sifting through up to $15,000 worth of stolen property linked to burglaries of motels and camping grounds in the Bay of Islands.
A Kaikohe man in his 40s was arrested and is facing burglary and theft charges after police searched his home on Friday. DVD players, cameras and
motel room towels were among items found there.
Some of the property is believed to belong to an English couple raided by thieves earlier this month. Zoe Lines and Robert Felby flew back to Britain after waking on June 3 at a campground near Haruru Falls to find their car - parked half a metre from their tent - had been ransacked and items worth thousand of dollars stolen.
Ms Lines vowed never to come back to New Zealand and felt not enough had been done to warn them about thefts in the area.
Bay of Islands police area commander Senior Sergeant Dan Dickison said the arrest came after information was passed to police about the man.
"It linked to information staff already had, so we decided to execute a search warrant," he said. "We estimate at this stage there is at least $10,000 to 15,000 worth of property that we are trying to find owners for. A lot of it was taken from motels that were broken into in Paihia and cars that had been broken into."
Mr Dickison said police were pleased to have recovered the property.
"It was really good work by the Paihia station and the staff at Kaikohe. We also have to thank the members of the public who gave us the information."
Police would be contacting the owners of the property - including the English couple - this week.
It is the second major haul by mid-North police in the past seven months.
Kerikeri police smashed a major burglary ring in the town in December, recovering more than $150,000 worth of stolen property from one house.
The Rangitane Loop Rd house became the focus of an investigation after police noticed a marked increase in burglaries in the township.
A 34-year-old man, a 37-year-old woman and an 18-year-old were arrested after that raid.
