Covid 19 Delta outbreak: Auckland Head Hunter poses as courier to attend Rotorua gang funeral

A patched Head Hunter and his girlfriend are under investigation after allegedly using their essential worker status to cross Auckland's southern border to attend the funeral of another gang member in Rotorua.

The Herald has learned the pair were stopped by police on Friday for speeding.

They provided paperwork to show they were legitimate courier drivers and said they had been to Rotorua to "deliver tyres".

They were on their way back from Rotorua to Auckland when they were stopped.

Police discovered the man - a patched member of the Head Hunters gang - was forbidden to drive.

The woman had no licence at all.

After speaking to the pair officers dropped them in Te Kauwhata.

Not long after police had stopped the pair officers in the intelligence section found social media posts that confirmed they had been in Rotorua.

A source said the post showed the man and woman "celebrating" getting through the southern border.

They allegedly travelled to Rotorua to attend the funeral of a Filthy Few gang member - not to deliver tyres as they'd told border authorities.

Police could not comment on the specifics of the alleged incident but confirmed the couple were stopped for speeding.

"Further inquiries have raised concerns for police around the legitimacy of their travel and we are now in the process of investigating this," said a spokesperson.

"We are unable to comment further while this process is ongoing."

Auckland has been in alert levels 3 and 4 - which carry strict travel restrictions - since it was announced in August that the highly infectious Delta variant of Covid-19 was present in the community.

As of yesterday a total of 439,618 vehicles have now been stopped at the checkpoints on Auckland's northern and southern boundaries, with a total of 6792 vehicles having been turned around.

On Sunday alone 10,294 vehicles were processed at the checkpoints with 143 of those vehicles denied a pass and sent back home.

The Filthy Few gang patch. Photo / NZH

"It's important to remember that travel across an alert level boundary remains restricted and you will be turned away if you don't have the required evidence for permitted travel, as outlined on the Covid-19 website," said police.

Among some of the more high profile alleged breaches are:

• Auckland couple William Willis and Hannah Rawnsley who are accused of using their essential worker exemptions to drive to Hamilton before taking a flight to a holiday home in Wānaka.

• Inspector Regan Tamihere, the Māori responsiveness manager for the Counties Manukau police district is under investigation for crossing the border south of Auckland without an exemption. Tamihere was driving an unmarked police car and in full uniform when he was stopped at the border with passengers - iwi contacts he was driving to a funeral.

• A 32-year-old Waiuku man is facing a raft of charges after driving through the southern border without permission and fleeing police yesterday - telling officers he was going to a "gang funeral" in Thames. Road spikes were deployed a number of times to stop the man before he was arrested 40 minutes later.

Police have been monitoring checkpoints to ensure all motorists travelling through Auckland's borders have exemptions. Photo / Dean Purcell

• A 53-year-old arrested at Wellington's ferry terminal after police said he crossed Cook Strait with a caravan he'd bought in Christchurch, after misusing a work exemption to leave Auckland.

• A woman, 24, and man, 41, arrested in Wellington after allegedly travelling from Auckland.

• Two Aucklanders accused of using false documents to visit Taupō.

• Three essential workers from Auckland allegedly caught at Mt Ruapehu's Turoa Ski Field.

• A man who boasted on Tik Tok of making a cross-border McDonald's run.

• Two gang associates accused of trying to flee police on a gravel road near the lockdown border. The pair were later found to have over $100,000 in cash in the car and a boot full of KFC, police said.