Armed police raid gang houses

Armed police swooped on five Dunedin gang homes yesterday, as part of ongoing investigations into two recent armed robberies in the city.

A 22-year-old man was arrested and a gun seized in the raids on properties in Caversham and St Kilda about 7am yesterday.

Detective Sergeant Dave Nelson, of the Dunedin CIB, said search warrants were executed by police and the armed offenders squad at the houses, where it was known associates of the Black Power gang lived.

Some of the warrants were in relation to an aggravated robbery on Monday evening at a private address in Dunedin, where a man was allegedly threatened with a gun and items taken from him.

No further details were available yesterday on that robbery.

Det Sgt Nelson said the remainder of the warrants were in relation to the aggravated robbery of the Regent Night 'n Day on June 20.

In that incident a man brandishing a knife, and another with a gun, held up a staff member about 12.30am. They stole cash and tobacco.

During the robbery, one member of the public was kicked in the head and knocked unconscious, the sole Night 'n Day staff member was kicked, punched and robbed, and a second member of the public was forced to the ground at gunpoint.

At the time, police said the robbery was one of the most violent in Dunedin for some time, and warned the robbers would strike again if not caught.

The men needed to be caught to stop them committing another violent robbery and hurting more innocent members of the public in the process, police said.

Most of the dairy robbery was captured on security camera footage.

Detectives believed more people were waiting outside the store in a stolen car for the two main offenders.

Police found the car the next day, but received little information despite repeated public appeals in the following weeks.

Police said they did not think the robberies were linked with a series of armed robberies in Mornington, Green Island and South Dunedin in the previous weeks.

Five people have been charged in relation to those robberies.

Det Sgt Nelson said the 22-year-old unemployed man arrested yesterday would appear in the Dunedin District Court next week, charged with unlawful possession of a firearm.

Several other people had been spoken to, and police were following positive lines of inquiry, but Det Sgt Nelson said he could not provide any further details about the searches because the investigation was continuing.

He urged people to continue contacting the Dunedin police with information about the activities of the alleged offenders.