More than $15,000 of paua collected by a black market shellfish ring has been seized after a year-long investigation.
Fishery officers seized paua, dive gear and electronic equipment in raids in the Bay of Plenty this week.
Along with police, the officers searched houses across the Western Bay, and several business premises, including a powered-storage facility at Mount Maunganui, where they seized two freezers containing 116kg of paua with a commercial value of $15,000.
The paua was minced and frozen in 500g and 1kg bags - 210 bags in total.
The black market ring allegedly involved divers gathering paua and kina and selling them to a network of buyers in Tauranga, Whakatane, Hamilton and Auckland.