Police raid property searching for alleged kidnapper, find drug lab
Police have raided a rural South Auckland property looking for a man connected to a violent kidnapping on the North Shore — and although they did not find the man, officers did uncover a clandestine drug lab.
Police arrested another man on charges relating to the drug lab.
Police were looking for Ralph Park, 25, who was allegedly involved in the April 2 alleged kidnapping in Beach Haven. Police said he was dangerous and should not be approached.
The ongoing hunt for Park came after police stormed a central Auckland pub and arrested Jamie Perfect, 23, and another woman for the alleged kidnap and assault. Perfect was arrested the day after the alleged kidnapping but had name suppression until April 7.
Security camera footage, supplied exclusively to the Herald, showed a group of police officers entering Headquarters bar and restaurant in Auckland’s Viaduct to apprehend and handcuff the man and woman who had just ordered drinks.
Officers and other emergency services descended on Clevedon, South Auckland, before sunrise yesterday looking for Park at a house on Creightons Rd.
Police executed a search warrant at the rental property but some of the people inside tried to stop officers.
Detective Inspector Callum McNeill said police then found the clandestine lab. Officers arrested a 35-year-old man who was to appear in the Manukau District Court today, McNeill said.
Police were continuing their search for Park.
Court documents showed police alleged Perfect kidnapped the woman from a property in Sunnyhaven Ave where she was staying.
The charge carries a maximum penalty of 14 years.
She was found injured in Greenhithe after she was allegedly forced into a vehicle and injured.
The woman is recovering in hospital.
Perfect, of Dairy Flat, was also charged with unlawfully entering the Beach Haven home where the woman was living, using a firearm during a burglary and wounding the woman with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, charges also carrying a 14-year maximum term.
He did not seek bail and was remanded in custody until his plea hearing later this month.
The arrested woman was charged with failing to carry out obligations relating to a computer search.
Police issued an appeal for the whereabouts of Park on Friday.
The said they believed he may have been trying to seek medical attention after being injured during the kidnapping.
“We believe Park was shot, either by his own achievements or accidentally by his accomplice,” McNeill said.