A police group has been set up to combat organised crime in the Otago Lakes areas.

The Queenstown based group has a focus on combating organised crime across the whole Otago Lakes area as part of the police commitment to help create safer communities, a police spokesperson told the Wānaka App.

“While this will mean targeting those that do a great deal of harm in our communities through the manufacture, importation and distribution of drugs, firearms offending, and gang-related harm, the group also wants to work in partnership with the community to build resilience to organised crime,” they said.

Early last month a Lake Hāwea man, Joshua Haddon, admitted charges which included possession of MDMA for supply, possession of controlled drugs for supply, possession of methamphetamine, and unlawfully possessing a sawn off double-barrelled shotgun and a sawn off pump-action shotgun.

Stuff NZ reported that police began investigating Haddon when looking into the supply of Class A drugs in the Wānaka and Lake Hāwea area.

Wānaka senior sergeant Chris Brooks told the Wānaka App in May that dealing with the impact of the drugs that follow summer festivals and events is a challenge for the town.

Read more: Police work needs community on side, says Wānaka’s top cop

The police told the Wānaka App the new group will work closely with their organised crime group counterparts throughout the country as well as other police units such as the financial crime group.

The new group currently consists of a detective sergeant and a detective, with two more detectives joining the group within the next few months. 

The four positions are additional to current police numbers.

PHOTO: Wānaka App