Outside the Middleton Rd, Corstorphine, property in Dunedin, an Armed Offenders Squad member stood guard outside the steel gates, which were opened yesterday as police and detectives poured into the property.
While police armed with crowbars worked to dismantle the corrugated iron fence surrounding the property, the Otago Daily Times was invited on a tour of the gang house.
As a fence collapses at the side of the property, revealing a semi-rural outlook, an official assignee works to record the contents of the clubrooms.
This former State house has now reverted back to Crown ownership, after it was seized by police yesterday under part of the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act.
Apart from the Aotearoa Mongrel Mob insignia from around New Zealand adorning the walls, the clubroom resembles a small pub, with its large television, jukebox, bar table and stools, pinball machine, pool table, video games, dartboard, and table tennis table.
Detective Inspector Steve McGregorsaid police removed the fence as it was alleged to have been constructed from stolen materials.
The dismantling of the fence and removal of gang insignia from the front of the home would go a long way to restoring residents' peace of mind, he said.
Det Insp McGregor guides us though the rear of the two-bedroom house, pointing out the CCTV monitors, which provided surveillance of the property, cut into the wall.
The lounge was strewn with newspapers, and the walls covered with pictures of gang associates, a feature which would help police in their six-month Operation Rocket investigation, Det Insp McGregor said.
Also on the wall is a framed picture of heavy metal band, Iron Maiden. Det Insp McGregor points out how the colour associated with the gang - red - has even influenced the gang's colour choice of vacuum cleaner.
A bare mattress in a bedroom showed that while members could have slept there - it was not used as an official residence, but more a place for members to meet.
As another section of fence is removed a locksmith arrives to change the locks, closing the door on the Mob association.
