KEY POINTS:
Five men have been arrested for poaching paua from the Coromandel peninsula last weekend.
Three of them were now in the process of being deported "for a variety of reasons", police said.
The arrests were the result of a combined Waikato police and Ministry of Fisheries operation targeting shellfish poachers on the Thames coast and Coromandel peninsula.
The five men were charged with possession of 68 undersize paua, said Constable Brian Connors, of Thames police.
The legal size for paua in New Zealand is 125mm.
Ministry of Immigration staff also became involved and are now deporting three of the men.
Mr Connors warned that police and fisheries officers would continue to target illegal poaching around the Coromandel peninsula.
"People must understand that they are being watched, they will be stopped, the paua taken and they will face prosecution," he said.
- NZPA
