At least six stores across Auckland and Waikato have been targeted by burglars today.
Police said "a group of people" ram-raided an Ellerslie dairy in Auckland just before 4am on Monday.
"A group of people entered the store and stole several items before fleeing in a second vehicle," the police spokesperson said.
One of the owners of the store, Sandra Dairy on Marua Road, told 1News they were shaken, and the damage caused is "indescribable".
They said a Mazda drove through the front of the store and was then abandoned.
In Mount Albert, police were called to reports of an attempted break-in at a store on Wagener Place just before 2am.
"It’s understood a fog cannon was activated and those involved left the scene without taking anything," police said.
At about 8am, police were at a dairy in Mount Roskill after a robbery was reported.
Ajit Patel, who owns a dairy on Melrose Road, told 1News five masked men with baseball bats came into his store for about 10 to 15 seconds.
Patel said the men tried to take the till but didn't succeed.
Workers are now figuring out if anything else was taken.
In Waikato, police are investigating three incidents.
Ajit Patel, who has owned the Mt Roskill store since October, says five people with baseball bats ransacked his store this morning. (Source: 1News)
A ram-raid style burglary on Bryant Road, St Andrews in Hamilton was reported to police just before 2am.
Burglaries on Duke Street in Cambridge and on Sloane Street in Te Awamutu were also reported at about 4am and 4.30am, respectively.
"Police are following lines of enquiry to locate the offenders and to determine whether the incidents are linked," a spokesperson said about the three Waikato incidents.
The burglaries come after a dairy worker in Frankton, Hamilton had two of his fingers cut off by a robber armed with a machete on Saturday.
Last month, Auckland dairy worker Janak Patel, 34, was fatally stabbed in Sandringham.
The Government has since announced more funding for fog cannons and crime prevention programmes.
SHARE ME