Gang members charged after social media post

Several members of King Cobra have been accused of prohibiting the display of a gang crest.
Photo: Supplied / New Zealand Police

Several gang members have been charged after a social media post showed them wearing banned insignia.

A half-dozen members of the King Cobra gang, aged 28 to 58, were charged with displaying a banned gang patch, police said.

The charges were laid after a social media post showed King Cobra members standing outside the High Court in Auckland wearing clothing with gang insignia.

“The public display of gang patches or insignia is now illegal under the new legislation, and we continue to remind gang members of the consequences of breaking these rules,” Detective Inspector said Glenn Baldwin in a statement.

Under the new lawpeople caught displaying gang insignia in public are subject to a fine of $5,000 or imprisonment for up to six months.

Search warrants executed at several properties in Auckland and Waikato also uncovered drugs and firearms, leading to further charges.

Register at Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.