Five people were arrested last week and charged with a variety of offences after a week of thorough and methodical investigation by Bay of Plenty Police.

Detective Sergeant Leonie Smith of the Bay of Plenty Organised Crime Group says, “Some of these search warrants required extensive planning and information and we are pleased with the results so far.

“A 21-year-old faces 19 charges which include unlawful taking, burglary, theft, receiving stolen goods, arson and a number of driving charges, including ramming a police car in Tauranga. The police officer suffered only minor injuries but was obviously shaken by the incident.

A 27-year-old faces 10 charges including unlawful taking, receiving stolen goods, arson and driving charges.

A 29-year-old is facing 10 charges including burglary, unlawful taking and receiving stolen goods.

All three men appeared in court last week and have been remanded in custody to appear in court at a later date.

Another male aged 24 years, was arrested for resisting Police and assaulting Police at one of the addresses and he will appear at the Opotiki district court on this Thursday 18 April.

At a separate address later last week another man, aged 25 was arrested and he is facing charges of receiving stolen goods – a trailer to the value of $17,000. He will appear this Thursday 18 April at the Opotiki District Court also.

The arrests come after a number of search warrants were executed in Opotiki last week.

“Police will continue to target prolific offending of this nature and I’m thrilled to get these people off our streets.

Any time we are able to recover stolen property is a great result not only for us, but those who are missing valuable personal items.

“We are committed to ensuring we are holding all offenders accountable, so this is a positive outcome and is great for all involved,” she says.

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