Teen arrested as police probe bomb threats against organisations around country

Police investigating a series of bomb threats sent to organisations around the country have charged an Invercargill teenager.

Southland police searched a house in Invercargill on Monday, acting on information gathered by Auckland-based detectives.

Area commander Inspector Mike Bowman said the boy was taken into custody without incident.

He has been charged with two counts of threatening to kill/do grievous bodily harm and was to appear in the Invercargill Youth Court on Tuesday.

Police said further charges may be considered as the investigation progresses.

"Operation Irena is an ongoing investigation into recent email threats made to institutions initially in Auckland and then to organisations across the country," Bowman said.

"I want to reassure the community that no items of concern or explosive materials were found as part of the search yesterday."

Bowman said initial indications were the young person wouldn't have been able to follow through on any threat.

"Threats of this nature are taken extremely seriously and yesterday's swift action by police reflects this."

The teen was due to appear at the Invercargill Youth Court on Tuesday.

The arrest was part of an investigation into email threats made to institutions in Auckland and then nationwide, targeting prominent locations, universities and tertiary institutions, police said.

Unitec's Mt Albert campus was evacuated after a bomb threat last week.

At the time, police said it was one of a series of threats possibly sent from overseas.

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