When Auckland police raided the Head Hunters West pad in August and found an envelope apparently labelled “drugs profit”, it seemed like an open and shut case.

But a single misread letter on the handwritten label meant police have had to hand the envelope and cash back to the gang.

Instead of drugs profit, the envelope in fact contained drags profit, the proceeds of a regular motorcycle racing event held at the Meremere Dragway in the northern Waikato.

“Police have since clarified the handwriting on the envelope contained an ‘a’ instead of a ‘u’,” a police spokesman confirmed this week in response to Herald inquiries.

“The money has since been returned.”

Police raided the Head Hunters West chapter pad in View Rd, Henderson on August 21. They said at the time they were searching for a stolen motorcycle.

A member of the Head Hunters motorcycle gang does burnouts before a race at Meremere Dragway Meremere. The 2022 race day was organised by the Greazy Dogs. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Detective Senior Sergeant Scott Armstrong said that when the bike wasn’t found, they seized several other items.

“The 9mm semi-automatic pistol located was of particular concern,” Armstrong said.

The envelope containing cash was found in a safe at the pad. Two motorbikes at the paid were impounded for driving-related offences, while several others were issued green and pink stickers.

Three months later, police were back at the pad soon after the new gang patch ban came into force.

Several Head Hunters West members were filmed allegedly displaying gang insignia on their patches and motorcycles on November 21, the day the new law came into force.

Among those arrested and charged in the pre-dawn raid on November 22 was the man police say is the president of the West chapter, Phillip Robarts.

He appeared before community magistrate Fenella Thomas in the Waitākere District Court on Friday facing two charges under the new law of displaying gang insignia in public.

Robarts was remanded at large and without plea at his lawyer’s request ahead of his next appearance later this month.

During the raid, police seized Harley Davidson motorcycles and gang patches.

Police have now laid more than 40 charges under the Gangs Act 2024.

George Block is an Auckland-based reporter with a focus on police, the courts, prisons and defence. He joined the Herald in 2022 and has previously worked at Stuff in Auckland and the Otago Daily Times in Dunedin.