Two women have been arrested after they allegedly stole upwards of $40,000 worth of products from Auckland supermarkets in the past two months.
Police said the women, aged 22 and 26, are being held in custody and are facing 29 theft charges, after being arrested late last week.
"Officers saw a vehicle driving with a smashed rear windscreen and when the vehicle was stopped, they recognised the females inside as offenders wanted in relation to numerous shoplifting incidents," a police spokesperson said.
"They were taken into custody without incident."
Senior Sergeant Guy Baldwin added: "The arrests were a result of a great coordinated response from our frontline staff and investigators, holding these [alleged] high-volume offenders to account and preventing further victimisation."
Manager of the police's national retail investigation support unit, Matt Tierney, alleged the two women "targeted a range of products".
“We'd like to thank retailers and the community for alerting police to many of these offences," he said in a media release.
The two women will appear in the Auckland District Court later this month.
It comes after a group of people were caught by police after allegedly loading up shopping trolleys with goods and walking off during an Auckland shoplifting spree earlier this week.
Police said the shoplifting happened at Botany Town Centre around 4pm on Monday.
"Police received a report of a group of people allegedly loading up trolleys worth of goods at various stores in Botany Town Centre and walking off without paying," police said in a statement.
A mall security guard followed the group then searched their bags and found a number of stolen items as well as a machete and an axe.
"The group was escorted off site and police were quickly notified," Inspector Rakana Cook said.
The group of five then allegedly went to another store nearby where they again loaded up a trolley and took off.
"They have exited the store through a backdoor and made their way down to Chapel Road, where our staff quickly took them into custody without incident," Cook said.
The stolen items were returned to the stores.
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