Hundreds of items believed to be stolen from vehicles belonging to international tourists parked at popular Northland sites have been discovered in a Whangarei home after a police raid.
Now police are tackling the mammoth task of contacting backpackers still touring New Zealand and matching them up with their stolen gear.
Piles of backpacks and sports bags filled with clothes, jewellery, a selection of electrical and expensive camera gear were all part of the property found in a Whangarei house when police carried out a search warrant last Wednesday.
Northland police area response manager Daniel Cleaver said it appeared most the gear belonged to European backpackers and were thefts that had happened recently.
"We are now in the process of identifying what property we have and hopefully most of them are still travelling in New Zealand," Mr Cleaver said.