Forensic officers dug up parts of a South Auckland property in a major search that could be linked to the death of Thai woman Jindarat Prutsiriporn.
They have also been seen with firearms, wearing boiler suits and riffling through rubbish bins during the examination of a Wayne Drive, Mangere property, which began on Friday night. Witnesses report seeing people taken away from the house by police on Friday and officers arriving soon after.
The search wrapped up yesterday afternoon. A neighbour said the house had been under police guard for most of the weekend and officers were stopping all vehicles approaching the property.
But police will not say why they are there, nor will they discuss if it is to do with Ms Prutsiriporn's death last week. Bound and gagged, the slightly built 50-year-old threw herself from a car boot on to a Papatoetoe street last Tuesday evening. She died of her injuries in hospital and her death is being treated as a homicide.
Detective Inspector Dave Lynch, head of the inquiry, Operation Sisal, would not say if the Mangere search was linked.