A soldier has been arrested at Linton Military Camp following a "joint criminal investigation" by NZ Police and the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF), a police spokesperson confirmed.
The soldier is believed to have ties to a far-right religious organisation and bodybuilding club, Wargus Christi, which styles itself as a "martial-monastic order".
According to Newsroom.co.nz, the group claimed one of its members had been taken into military custody last week via its Telegram channel.
"One of our boys has been arrested for reasons still unknown. They have him in custody at the moment," Wargus Christi reportedly posted on December 14.
A user later added that the man was in "military prison".
"The New Zealand Defence Force can confirm that there was a cordon in place in part of the Linton Housing Area attached to Linton Military Camp on Friday... because investigations are ongoing, no further details will be released at this time," the spokesperson said.
"New Zealand Defence Force and New Zealand police have been conducting a joint criminal investigation. New Zealand Defence Force is currently the lead agency. As this is an ongoing investigation no further comment will be made," the police spokesperson told Newshub.
An NZDF spokesperson confirmed to Newshub that police "executed a search warrant and one soldier was taken into military custody" at Linton Military Camp, the largest New Zealand Army base located south of Palmerston North.
"The New Zealand Defence Force can confirm that there was a cordon in place in part of the Linton Housing Area attached to Linton Military Camp on Friday... because investigations are ongoing, no further details will be released at this time," the spokesperson said.
Wargus Christi's public Facebook page regularly promotes far-right ideologies and values, referencing homophobia, anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.
A post from the "Christian brotherhood" earlier this month promoted mortification of the flesh, or "severity to the body," as an act of "spiritual warfare" and' 'sanctification".
"Wargus Christi promotes and participates in the tradition of flagellation - the striking of the flesh in penance. Flagellation is first introduced with padded clubs that bruise and condition the body toward the more testing methods our forefathers mastered," it wrote, alongside a photo of severe bruising and broken skin on the back of an assumed member.
A post from October 15 also declared, "like Islam, Judaism is a diametrical enemy of Christ".
