Calls for calm ignored

Calls for calm are falling on deaf ears as Mongrel Mob and Black Power members in Hawke’s Bay continue to be arrested for aggravating behaviour – including being armed and carrying methamphetamine.

The latest flurry of activity comes in the wake of two gang-related shootings that have left the district shaken. One involved shots being fired in Ruatoria; the other, more serious incident saw shots fired during a gang fight between the two gangs in Taradale’s main street on Sunday.

On Tuesday, firearms and ammunition were seized by police responding to reports of patched Mongrel Mob members converging in the Wairoa town centre.

Detective Inspector Rob Jones said police searched a vehicle and recovered two unlawful firearms and ammunition. A 25-year-old man was arrested and was due to appear in the Gisborne District Court.

In a separate incident, a 25-yearold Black Power associate was arrested on Tuesday evening in Napier after being stopped by police. A knife was recovered along with a small quantity of methamphetamine.

With no end in sight to the conflict, police have said the problem requires more than just a crackdown on gangs.

A public meeting will be held on Sunday, in conjunction with the Napier City Council, at the Taradale Community Hall to help ease the community’s concerns.

‘‘We are concerned about the current situation and the potential for violence and threatening behaviour on our streets,’’ Jones said. Police had increased their numbers in Ruatoria and Taradale, and frontline police across the district would be armed.

Earlier yesterday a 25-year-old man appeared in the Hastings District Court in relation to Sunday’s gang shooting in Taradale.

Appearing with a white medical patch across his eye, the man told a JP he had ‘‘been shot in the face’’. The man, who has interim name suppression, is charged with unlawful assembly and possession of a weapon.