Head Hunter arrested after alleged gun find
A loaded pistol was allegedly found in the luggage of a Head Hunter gang member as he prepared to board a domestic flight at Auckland Airport this week.
He was returning home to Christchurch after celebrating the 20th anniversary of the gang’s influential East chapter in Auckland last weekend.
The firearm was allegedly found by Aviation Security staff when the luggage was checked in and went through security screening.
A police spokesperson confirmed a 38-year-old man was arrested on Wednesday and charged with unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition.
Court documents show the firearm was a Browning 7.65 calibre pistol, which the Herald on Sunday understands was loaded with four rounds of ammunition.
The Christchurch man is next due to appear in the Manukau District Court at the end of this month.
The alleged discovery of a Head Hunter carrying a firearm in such a brazen manner comes shortly before a nationwide police crackdown to “suppress, disrupt and enforce” unlawful gang activity.
While police have successfully targeted gangs in covert investigations into drugs and organised crime over many years, in recent weeks police have used more overt tactics to keep an eye on gang behaviour.
Police followed the Comancheros “gang run” from Auckland to Waikato, issuing infringement tickets at a
petrol station, and a week later set up a checkpoint to stop a convoy of Killer Beez.
Last weekend, police set up checkpoints to stop the Head Hunters on a “gang run” to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the East chapter in Mt Wellington. Several motorcycles were impounded and more than 100 traffic infringement notices were issued, in tactics that will be carried on in Operation Cobalt which is due to start in June.
Other strategies are likely to include prioritising bail checks and arrest warrants for gang members, or responding in force to reports of gang-related assaults or disorder.
“The aim is to put pressure on gangs so they can feel it,” said one source, “and the public can see it.”
A group of staff pooled from the Auckland, Counties and Waitemata¯ police districts will form a taskforce of about 40, led by veteran detectives. The other police districts will be required to set up a specialised gang squad, whose work will be coordinated in a nationwide effort.
It will inevitably be compared to Strike Force Raptor in Australia, an elite unit set up following a fatal gang brawl in Sydney airport in 2009.