Fifteen properties in Wellington belonging to two people allegedly involved in a police vandalized ring of stolen goods have been seized following raids on fifteen properties and storage units.
Operation Trump Card saw three people arrested for their alleged involvement in an organized burglary gang and more than 3,000 items recovered in police raids in October.
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Acting Detective Senior Sergeant Alex Macdonald said the value of the properties is still being calculated but is expected to “run into the millions”.
“This should send a clear signal that the Asset Recovery Unit is not just targeting gangs, but anyone who wants to profit from crime and harm our communities,” Macdonald said.
JUAN ZARAMA PERINI/Stuff
Police are executing a “pre-scheduled search warrant” at a Newlands property in October as part of Operation Trump Card. (File photo).
Police have obtained a legal restriction on the properties, pending a decision on whether they should be forfeited to the Crown.
In October, Detective John van den Heuvel said police had never encountered a gang of stolen goods of the same size.
An incomplete list included 285 bicycles, 950 power tools, 10 generators, eight concrete cutters, 10 gas stoves, 695 new and packaged taps and mixers, 46 heat pumps, 33 laptops, eight computers, 132 home appliances and white goods, and 27 e-scooters.
“We have determined that property has been stolen from as far away as the coast of Kāpiti and the Wairarapa, dating back as far as two years,” van den Heuvel said.
Delivered
Hundreds of bicycles were recovered by police during Operation Trump Card. (File photo).
Police previously said they had matched a number of items with victims, but encouraged anyone who had not reported stolen property to get in touch.
The announcement came the same day the police filed a report the CThe hitchurch Head Hunters’ gang cushion had been taken from them after the property was seized in 2017.
The High Court ordered the forfeiture of the property of Vickerys Rd, Wigram under the Criminal Prosecution Act Police froze hundreds of thousands of dollars in gang assets.
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Police raided the Head Hunters gang in Vickerys Rd, Wigram in 2016. (File photo).
Police filed an application because Christchurch gang members and associates were “deeply” involved in the sale and supply of methamphetamine and had improved the property since taking possession of it in 2016.
The court concluded that the funding came from criminal activities, including drug trafficking and unlicensed gambling machines. The court also ordered the confiscation of approximately $6,000 in unlicensed slot machines and a Harley Davidson motorcycle.
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