A box of explosives found buried in a Taupo garden could be linked to a series of burglaries committed 46 years ago.
Explosives found in a Taupo garden. Photo: NZ DEFENCE FORCE
Tamamutu Street was cordoned off and the bomb squad called in after the old box of gelignite was dug up by a resident on Monday.
The police said neither they nor the resident knew how the explosives came to be there. They said gelignite was often used in forestry and at quarries.
Former Taupo police detective Rex Hawkins said the only unexplained gelignite he knows of was stolen from a quarry in Tokoroa in 1968.
"A quantity of gelignite was later used in the blowing open of about five to six safes in Taupo overnight," he said.
Rex Hawkins said the offenders were arrested but some of the gelignite was never recovered.