Two men, including a King Cobra member, have been arrested as part of an ongoing operation targeting New Zealand gangs.
Police officers made the arrests after carrying out a vehicle search in the Auckland suburb of Flat Bush late last week as part of an investigation into a recent shooting in Ōtara.
During the vehicle search, officers located a revolver and bullets.
"This has led Operation Cobalt staff to conduct a further search warrant at a nearby Flat Bush address," police said, adding a sawn-off shotgun and cartridges were recovered during the house search.
The arrests and seizures were part of Operation Cobalt, which involves a ring-fenced group of police officers working specifically on disrupting gang activity.
Det Insp Aaron Proctor said one of the men arrested, aged 36, was a patched King Cobra gang member. He was charged with two counts of unlawful firearm possession.
Another 27-year-old man was also charged with unrelated offences.
"This is a great example of police staff working together to achieve the aims of Operation Cobalt in targeting unlawful activity," Pascoe said.
"While there is a team of dedicated Operation Cobalt staff across the country, it also involves a whole police approach to suppressing and disrupting this illegal activity."
Investigations into the Ōtara shooting remained ongoing, he said.
