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Tribesmen and other bikies and associated gang members travelling together along Yaldhurst Rd west of Christchurch in 2020. (File image)
Tribesmen biker gang members have been stripped of their motorbikes during a night police operation near Christchurch.
A large contingent of the gang is en route to the annual Burt Munro Challenge motor sport event, which is being held in Southland next week.
Late on Thursday, a group of North Island-based Tribesmen members crossed the Cook Strait on one of the ferries.
As they rode through North Canterbury, towards Christchurch, about 1am on Friday, they encountered a police checkpoint.
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The Tribesmen pad in Christchurch. (File image)
Six of their motorcycles were impounded and a number of infringement notices were issued during the planned operation, a police spokesperson said.
“Their riding was monitored all the way through Marlborough, and will be whilst in Canterbury and [on] their travels south.”
Police last year launched Operation Cobalt, a nationwide crackdown on gangs.
The behaviour of gang members during group rides and tangi processions has come under scrutiny.
The Tribesmen gang is a significant player in the underworld in the South Island, where it has a base in an industrial part of Woolston, Christchurch.
