11 men with gang connections arrested, charges as serious as attempted murder

Police executing search warrants in Southland which led to the arrest of 11 men with gang connections.

Police have arrested 11 men across the country with connections to the Mongrel Mob today with charges as serious as attempted murder after several drive-by shootings and assaults in Southland.

The sting targetted the Mongrel Mob’s Mataura Chapter and involved 12 search warrants at midday today in Mataura, Gore, Dunedin, and Hamilton. Three of the arrests were also made in Auckland.

The arrests are the result of months of work by Invercargill Police with nationwide support as a part of Operation Pakari. This operation is a branch of Operation Cobalt which targets gang offending.

Those arrested were involved in a drive-by shooting in Centre St, Invercargill in January last year, several incidents in February and in April last year where people were dropped off at Gore Hospital seriously injured and a drive-by shooting in Elizabeth St, Invercargill last June.

Police executing search warrants in Southland which led to the arrest of 11 men with gang connections.

The 11 men, aged between 16 and 43, are facing charges that include attempted murder, wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and firearms offences.

Southland Area Commander Inspector Mike Bowman said police are not currently ruling out further arrests and investigations are ongoing.

Bowman said the gangs are “not welcome” in the Southland District, and his team are dedicated to disrupting the harm they cause to the community.

“We will continue to target and suppress unlawful gang behaviour in order to protect and enhance the safety of our community and staff,” Bowman said.

Bowman said this not only means holding those responsible to account but also engaging with the families of the men and offering support “to those who in many cases suddenly find themselves struggling”.

“It’s one thing to arrest a parent, it’s another to leave another caregiver struggling to support the family,” Bowman said.

“While we are focused on holding people to account for what is serious violent offending, the police’s role is also to be victim-focused and help preventing further harm from occurring.

“This could be as simple as budgeting advice, or more significant interventions such as child welfare agencies being involved.”