Covid-19 Delta outbreak: Southern checkpoint drink driver escapes dodges appearance

A man who attempted to drive through a southern Covid checkpoint while drunk has managed to avoid a court appearance.

This was not due to any ill-fated attempts to flee police, but by blowing lower than the level required to be a criminal offence.

The 32-year-old man blew 328mcg. The limit when it becomes a criminal offence is 400mcg.

However, as the man blew more than 250mcg, he was instead given an infringement notice after being taken back to the Huntly police station for processing.

The man was caught by police attempting to drive north through the Oram Rd Covid checkpoint on Saturday.

He is now one of many people who have attempted - some successfully - to get through.

The latest instance of this is two sisters who drove from Auckland to Whangarei on Sunday night.

Neither had a valid exemption and instead drove through the checkpoint, fleeing police at speeds up to 140km/h.

Police decided not to pursue the pair and instead caught up with them on Kirikiri Rd, Whangarei.

They were arrested and have since appeared in court.

Meanwhile, two "essential workers" were caught with 2kg of cannabis as they crossed the border at Mercer at the weekend.

The 36-year-old and 52-year-old were stopped by police on Sunday at the Mercer checkpoint.

Both men had travel exemption notices, however a police officer noticed a smell of cannabis coming from their vehicle.

They were then questioned. Police established the pair weren't travelling for essential purposes and found more than 2kg of cannabis in the vehicle.

The two men were charged by police with possession for supply and failing to comply with the Covid-19 order and appeared in the Manukau District Court yesterday.