A north Auckland drug rehab centre raided by police this week was founded by the mother of three senior gang members, according to a report.
Police officers arrested three men on Thursday during a search warrant at Nga Kete Wananga bail facility on Postman Rd in Dairy Flat.
Officers found almost half a kilogram of methamphetamine, a kilogram of pseudoephedrine, more than $5000 in cash and a weapon.
The NZ Herald said in a report on Friday the woman who operates the facility, Matilda Kahotea, was the mother of three high-up Head Hunters gang members.
Among the facility's residents were prominent Mongrel Mob, Hells Angels and other Head Hunters gang members, the report said.
Kahotea told the Herald she believed she was being targeted by the police because of the gang links within her family.
"When I opened this place though, I knew this was coming," Kahotea said.
"We can make a breakthrough with these guys. But we just need the opportunity to do that," she told the Herald.
Following the raid, National was demanding answers - with party police spokesperson Mark Mitchell saying the find raised serious questions.
He warned it looked like rehab centres were becoming gang pads and said the bust was a serious failure of the justice system.
"The public deserves to know who is approving these facilities, who is running them, why Government ministers have visited at least one facility where illegal items were found, and what actions were taken when the Government was made aware of this problem," he said in a statement.
"Labour's soft-on-crime approach is clear to see when courts are sending gang members to what are effectively gang pads and exposing neighbouring communities to serious danger."
