Armed robbers net thousands

Far North police cannot yet put a final figure on the amount of money taken when a security guard was held up at gunpoint and abducted in Kaitaia's main street on Tuesday.

Detective Sergeant Mark Robertson, of the Kaitaia CIB, discounted local reports that up to $350,000 may have been stolen, but said "at least several thousand" dollars was involved.

The 42-year-old guard employed by Security North was intercepted by a pistol-carrying Maori man in his mid- to late-20s near the Farmers store in Commerce St about 2.30pm.

The man forced the guard to drive in his company's van to a disused quarry 8km south of Kaitaia, just off State Highway 1.

The victim was handcuffed and had his feet taped.

Bags of cash were taken from the van, and a second vehicle arrived to pick up the robber and loot.

The guard managed to alert police on his cellphone.

He was found distressed but uninjured by detectives.

Mr Robertson said the only description police had of the gunman was that he was clean-shaven and had a fair complexion.

No details are known about who drove the pickup car to the quarry to collect the robber.

Police have also investigated why the security guard was working on his own, especially after a long weekend, picking up cash from premises in the town's central business area.

Mr Robertson said it appeared there was a legitimate reason because the guard's normal partner had quit suddenly and left at short notice the day before the Easter break.

There had been no time to find a replacement guard over the weekend and the man had tried to contact his employer about the matter before starting work again on Tuesday.

He was unable to find a fill-in but went to work anyway.

"Otherwise, he would normally have had a partner with him on busy days like Tuesday after a long weekend," Mr Robertson said.

Local reports that the guard had keys and hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash because he had just serviced a number of bank machines in the town were not correct.

Mr Robertson said Security North used to service the machines but no longer did so.

Police are continuing inquiries but have no firm suspects.

Anyone with information should contact the Kaitaia CIB on (09) 408-6515.