Detectives play it by the book

Christchurch detectives investigating an organised ring of book thieves face a daunting task to find the rightful owners for hundreds of rare and historic books.



The books were recovered after a five-month inquiry involving the Canterbury District Crime Squad.

Seven Christchurch people have so far been arrested and charged with the burglaries of libraries and museums throughout the country.

Around 800 books were seized when police executed 16 search warrants on 29 September, but since then police have recovered others and members of the public have also brought in books suspected of being stolen by the ring.

Sorting through the stacks of priceless books might be every book lover’s dream assignment, but for the nine detectives working on the inquiry, the stacks represent hundreds of hours of painstaking work.

Library staff are working alongside police cataloguing the stolen items, with each book having to be identified before its origins can be traced.

Detective Senior Sergeant John Rae, who heads Operation Pukapuka (Mäori for book), says police were alerted to the systematic theft of rare and expensive books, including New Zealand treasures, in May this year.

“We were aware that a group was behind the offending and that it had operated for a number of years,” he says.

“They were identifying potential books for sale, stealing them, processing them, on-selling them and laundering the proceeds,” he says.

A range of investigative tools identified the main players and the theft of books from Canterbury Museum and the University of Canterbury was observed.

Other libraries affected include Auckland, Waikato, Massey, Victoria and Otago university libraries, the Christchurch City Library and the Invercargill Public Library. It’s likely other libraries have also been affected.

In some cases the offenders altered the appearance of the books and removed or altered library identification. Fake library stamps were also used. One stamp claimed the book was from the collection of retired Mäori Land court judge Kenneth Gillanders Scott.

“Many of the books were sold through local book shops handling rare books or through the Internet site Trademe,” John says.

“We are making a concerted effort to recover as many books as we can but we fear some of the books sold overseas may never be retrieved.”

The group traded in some of New Zealand’s most valuable and irreplaceable heritage. For example, police recovered a three-volume edition of Captain James Cook’s 1785 work ‘A Voyage of Discovery in the Pacific Ocean’ valued at around $37,000. The books, stolen from the Invercargill Public Library, were found with their covers removed.

John says it’s too early to estimate the total value of the books stolen, but police have already recovered more than $100,000 worth.