A former gangster believes the Mongrel Mob will do what it takes to ensure it remains the dominant player on the east coast, despite yesterday's arrests of nine members over a revenge shooting.
Gisborne CIB staff yesterday searched a number of properties in Wairoa and Napier in relation to the shooting of a Black Power gang member outside the Mongrel Mob Headquarters in Wairoa last October.
Those arrested include a number of senior members of the Mongrel Mob, Eastern Police District criminal investigations manager Detective Inspector Ross Pinkham said.
"Police are confident that (yesterday's) operation will seriously undermine the gang's influence in Wairoa,'' he said.
Gisborne CIB would also continue to investigate the shooting of a Mongrel Mob member at the Mobil Service Station in Wairoa on October 29, believed to have been committed by Black Power in retaliation for the earlier shooting.
Community leader and former Black Power member Martin Kaipo, who has been working as a mediator for rival gangs in Whangarei, said Wairoa had long been a stronghold for the Mongrel Mob and it would do what it took to remain the dominant gang in the town.
"The overriding group that has the run of that particular town will not take a back foot to others,'' he said.
"The Mob will always bounce back. Although they lose a couple of gang members the chapter will try once again to re-coop and re-strategise and try and maintain the status quo.
"There may be some groups that will disband through conflict like this, but groups that have been around for a while will be supported by... their member groups.''
However, the last thing the gangs wanted was to draw unnecessary attention to themselves by engaging in further violence, especially when it could jeopardise their "entrepreneurial dealings", he said.
There were tensions between the two gangs all around the country, but the violence in Wairoa was probably directed by the local chapters, he said.
The nine arrested men appeared in the Wairoa, Napier and Gisborne District Courts yesterday and today facing a variety of charges including wounding, participating in an organised gang, and drugs and fiearms offences.
Police expected to make one further arrest in connection with the shooting, Mr Pinkham said.
