Police are embracing new technology in an effort to find the owners of a cache of stolen property found during recent drug busts around Whangarei.
The booty is believed to be from burglaries around Northland and Auckland and was discovered when police raided five addresses in the Whangarei area early this month.
As well as the large amount of stolen property, police also found more than 300 cannabis plants and some chemicals and equipment used for the manufacture of methamphetamine.
The searches were part of an operation targeting a group believed to be involved in an organised burglary ring involving residential properties and vehicles.
Police have called for the victims of recent burglaries to come forward to help identify the recovered property.
But due to the large amount of stolen goods officers decided to post photos of the property on Facebook to help people identify the items before they contacted police.
Anyone who has been the victim of a burglary in recent months can view the page at www.facebook.com/NorthlandPolice to see if any of items posted belong to them.
Police believe the offenders involved in this crime may have been carrying out burglaries in Auckland as well as Northland. Since posting the stolen items on Facebook, police have had several people call and identify items belonging to them.
If anyone recognises the items they can contact Whangarei police on 09 430 4500 or Constable Joe Reuben on 09 430 4652.
This is the first time Northland police have used their Facebook page in a bid to try to reunite stolen property with owners.
- By Mike Dinsdale of the Northern Advocate
