Night shift staff pursued a lead that led to a great catch for Mt Wellington Police this morning.

At around 3.20am, units were patrolling near Penrose Road when they stopped a vehicle.

“Once stopped the officers noticed a strong smell of cannabis coming from inside,” Auckland City East Area Prevention Manager, Inspector Rachel Dolheguy says.

“A search of the vehicle was invoked and resulted in a guitar case containing an unloaded military style pump action shotgun was located in the boot.”

Also found were four shotgun shells, a small amount of cannabis and cannabis paraphernalia.

“This was great proactive police work by our officers, which has resulted in a high-powered weapon being removed from our community,” Inspector Dolheguy says.

A 34-year-old male will appear in the Auckland District Court this morning charged with possessing a firearm and possessing cannabis.

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