Police have foiled two murders and seized property, weapons and drugs in the eastern Bay of Plenty.

In a crackdown on the Opotiki gang, police say they have foiled two potential murders and seized drugs and weapons, as well as $800,000 in assets they say are the proceeds of crime.

Twenty-eight people were arrested Tuesday on search warrants executed in the North Island as part of Operation Highwater, a concentrated operation targeting the East Bay branch of the Mongrel Mob Barbarian Motorcycle.

Police National Organized Crime Team director Detective Superintendent Greg Williams and Bay of Plenty District Superintendent Tim Anderson spoke to media in Tauranga on Tuesday, outlining the importance and success of the operation.

Anderson said it was a good day for Opika.

“Stopping this operation sends a clear message to gang members selling illegal drugs through the Bay of Plenty that we will find you and bring you to justice for your destructive behavior.

“We will continue to relentlessly pursue criminals who prey on our communities and cause enormous harm and suffering in their own communities through their drug dealing and violent behavior.”

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He said community leaders and iwi were “emboldened” by the offense and the impact it had on their families and friends.

The Police National Organized Crime Team launched Operation Highwater in December last year following a rise in violent crime and other offenses in Opotiki.

Search warrants were issued on Tuesday in the Eastern Bay of Plenty, Waikato, Auckland, Rotorua, Taupo and Hawke’s Bay, targeting those believed to be involved in a drug distribution network across the North Island, including methamphetamine and cannabis, Williams said.

Arrests were made in the Bay of Plenty (18), Auckland (three), Waikato (three), Wellington (two) and Eastern (two), and police seized significant quantities of illegal drugs and firearms.

These included three rifles and a pistol; drugs, including six pounds of cannabis, smaller amounts of methamphetamine and cocaine; cars and bicycles; $65,000 in cash, $87,000 in a bank account, one house, four cars and a jet ski, and 12 Mongrel Mob Barbarian patches.

He said several people appeared in the Tauranga District Court on Tuesday afternoon and others would appear in other courts in the coming days.

“Today’s action follows the execution of warrants in the Coromandel area over a number of days in August this year after the Operation Highwater investigative team discovered a flow of methamphetamine into the area,” Williams said.

Six more people were arrested in Whitianga and Coromandel, and methamphetamine, cannabis and firearms were also seized.

As Williams and Anderson spoke, more gang members were targeted in the eastern Bay of Plenty.

The pair said the 10-month investigation was an exemplary example of a police-wide approach which they said had also identified and prevented serious violence.

“In one such incident, police traveled to Opotiki after receiving information about a planned drive-by shooting at a marae in the eastern Bay of Plenty.

“Swift police action stopped the planned action and located and seized three firearms, including a high-powered rifle, shotguns and ammunition, preventing what could have been a serious incident.”

Gang members committed a disproportionate amount of crime and harm in New Zealand, particularly serious assaults, robberies, drug and firearms crimes and murder, Williams said.

“We remain focused on disrupting the illegal activities of gang members and their associates and holding offenders accountable for their crimes.”

Communities were controlled by gangs through drug addiction and debt, and the concern was now that children were being used as pawns for the gangs to sell drugs.

“We’re seeing this in Murupara at a time when children are taking it to school and trying to pass it on to other children, and that really worries me in terms of the harm that methamphetamine causes in these communities.

“Police are committed to doing everything we can to keep everyone safe and feeling secure. We encourage anyone who is concerned about criminal offenses being committed by gangs in their community to contact police so this can be investigated.”