Drugs, cash and ammo in raids

Southern police seized a smorgasbord of drugs along with ammunition and cash, and arrested eight people, including a Mongrel Mob member, during raids in Dunedin and Oamaru this week.

Southern district intelligence co-ordinator Acting Detective Sergeant Reece Munro, of Dunedin, said police executed eight search warrants in Oamaru and Dunedin.

The raids were successful, netting a haul including cannabis, methamphetamine, MDMA, ammunition and a little over $10,000 in cash, he said.

A drug detector dog and officers from the Armed Offenders Squad helped execute the warrants.

Among the arrested were a 52-year-old Mongrel Mob member and a 49-year-old Dunedin female, who appeared this week in the Dunedin District Court.

The woman was remanded on bail until next month while the man appeared yesterday and will apply for bail today.

"I would like to take the time to ask those who engage in this type of offending, if they actually stop and consider the detrimental impact their actions are having upon the community in which they and their families live," Det Sgt Munro said.

The investigation continued and further raids were expected.

"The New Zealand public act as the eyes and ears for the New Zealand Police, and we appreciate their support in reporting any offending."

On Wednesday, officers including members of the Dunedin dog section converged on an unassuming home in a leafy suburb in a raid linked to the operation.

Using a sniffer dog, officers thoroughly searched the home and a vehicle on the property.

One man was sitting in a police car accompanied by an officer. Another was in handcuffs being spoken to be officers on the front lawn. The Otago Daily Times understands no drugs or weapons were seized and no-one from the home was charged.

On Wednesday, a former gang member now living in the South issued a plea via the ODT for the public to help police fight what he said was the growing scourge of methamphetamine in the region.

The man came forward after news broke of a raid in Queenstown netting more than $200,000 worth of methamphetamine and more than $30,000 in cash.

The man said most major gangs in New Zealand were active in the drug trade in the South, including the Mongrel Mob, Head Hunters, Killa Beez, King Cobras and others, and another would soon arrive. The situation was particularly bad in Central Otago, he said.

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