Some of the 23 members of two rival gangs arrested on Saturday are facing charges of possession of methamphetamine and ammunition.
These men entered no plea to these charges when they appeared in the Tauranga District Court this morning.
Twelve members of the Filthy Few gang appeared in court and all pleaded guilty to unlawful assembly in Hungahungatora Road in Matapihi.
The Filthy Few and Greasy Dogs gangs were allegedly involved in a standoff on Saturday, February 5, when police were called to Matapihi at 3pm by concerned residents.
One gang member, Raymond Jervis, failed to appear in court this morning and police are trying to locate him.
No pleas were entered on the charges of possession of methamphetamine and cannabis, or the possession of explosives – which involved two members carrying two rounds of ammunition.
The men were remanded on bail to reappear in court for sentencing on February 21.
The bail conditions include: they are not to associate with any of the co-offenders, to wear gang regalia, go to Matahiwi Peninsula or to Welcome Bay Road.
Security guards were searching people entering the court this morning.
Read about the Greasy Dog afternoon court appearances here.
2 comments
Gangs
Posted on 07-02-2011 12:34 | By Right Again
Gangs are known criminals and should be treated as such. Patches should be Illegal.
Not so right again!
Posted on 07-02-2011 17:21 | By bryceh
The comment made by Right Again, is why we have libel and slander laws. It is wrong to state that "gangs are known criminals" even if you think they are. Not all gangs are criminally motivated! To say that patches should be illegal is just ridiculous. Who would set the boundaries as to what would represent a patch? This is not like walking into a bank wearing a balaclava, this is restricting a person's right to wear whatever they want. What needs to happen here, is if and when ANYBODY is nailed for doing something criminal, they should be dealt with to the extremes allowed by law. Judges need to stop pussy-footing around and slapping wrists!! They need to grow balls and hammer those who believe they are above the law.
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