A man has been arrested and charged with unlawful possession of a firearm at Ōpōtiki on Saturday night.

"Police were called about 5.30pm with a report that a man at an Ōpōtiki address was unlawfully in possession of a firearm," says a police spokesperson.

"Police, including the AOS as a precaution, attended.

"A firearm was seized and a 31-year-old man was arrested, and will be charged with unlawful possession of a firearm."

The small, eastern Bay of Plenty town has seen a brief increase in both police and gang presence as a consequence of the death and tangi of Mongrel Mob Barbarians president Steven Taiatini.

At the scene?

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