A New Zealand soldier with far-right links was questioned by police after the March 15 terror attacks, a source says.
The soldier, who was taken into military custody on Friday, is a 27-year-old man working as an armourer at the Linton Military Camp.
The man has deep connections with New Zealand's underground far-right movement. He was due to leave the country in the coming weeks to spend Christmas in Russia.
A source close to the family confirmed he had been arrested.
"We don't know the exact charges they are holding him on," the source said.
"All we know is that they [police and military] closed the [Linton] base down on Friday and searched his house."
The source said the 27-year-old's family were told of his arrest in the early-hours of Wednesday and have since learned about his intense involvement in far-right groups.
"The family just found out today that he was questioned after the March terror attacks because of his right-wing views," the source said.
"He was also supposed to go to Russia for Christmas and maybe it was a red-flag for the military and police?
"He has been wanting to go to Russia for years and have a white Christmas. Him and his girlfriend were going."
The source said the family, who have no affiliation with far-right groups, are horrified by what has happened.
"We are just absolutely shocked and as the day goes by they are learning more about what he has been up to online," the source said.
"His family, his brothers are nothing like this, they are absolutely devastated by what has happened and what information is slowly becoming available to them.
"When I look back, I mean, he really didn't have many friends as a kid - it was heartbreaking. He must have found a group of friends he could relate too? Maybe they were social outcasts as well?"
Neither the Defence Force nor police would confirm further details about the arrest.
Defence Minister Ron Mark said he had been briefed, but he would not comment on "ongoing operations".
"What I take strength and confidence in is that this has happened, and the military are clearly very observant, doing their job," he said.
"I'd like to think that any Government department that has the security interests of this nation at heart would be monitoring itself, as well."
Asked if the soldier was a threat to the country's security, Mark declined to comment.
A spokesman for the Defence Force said a cordon had been in place at the housing area of Linton Military Camp on Friday, as police conducted a search warrant. A soldier was taken into custody.
"Because investigations are ongoing, no further details will be released at this time," a statement provided by the spokesman read.
The spokesman confirmed an interim name suppression order was being sought.
A police spokesman said it was involved in a joint criminal investigation with the Defence Force.
As defence was the lead agency it would not comment further, a statement said.
FAR-RIGHT CONNECTIONS
The arrested soldier's connection to far-rights groups first became apparent last week, when members of the group Wargus Christi began talking about a member being arrested in a chatroom on Telegram.
Stuff has been supplied images of these messages by a source. The arrest and far-right connection was first reported by Newsroom.
"One of our boys has been arrested for reasons still unknown," a message from the Wargus Christi group read.
A member of the group said as the soldier was in a military prison, he could not be visited.
Wargus Christi, on its public Facebook page created in September, promotes Christian extremist content, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and far-right internet memes.
The group's founder, Daniel Waring, was in 2010 convicted of smashing windows of Christian church in Feilding. At the time, he described himself as a neo-Nazi to a probation officer.
The soldier has also been connected to the Dominion Movement, a white nationalist group which closed down abruptly after March 15.
Activists who track the far-right online have connected the soldier with an online profile which claimed to be a founder of the group.
The group ascribed to identitarianism, the far-right ideology which appeared to motivate the Christchurch terror suspect.
