I would take a bet that the FBI just handed New Zealand some warrants, told them what they wanted and paid them a bunch of money for expenditures.
The local PD probably got giddy over the idea that the US was footing the bill to use all their fancy hardware and tactical training so they went all out.
Police love having an excuse to put on the swat team gear and bang on doors, regardless of what country they live.
I was thinking the exact same thing as I watched. It seemed ridiculous that any of that was needed, but I was like "I bet those cops are having a blast!". Hell, it made me want to strap on the kevlar and go kick a few doors in.
More seriously, it was interesting to hear Dotcom say he (smartly) decided to let the cops find HIM rather than go to them as he didn't want to startle them and get shot or something.
"...but when we got to the
Scene of the Crime there was five police officers and three police cars,
being the biggest crime of the last fifty years, and everybody wanted to
get in the newspaper story about it. And they was using up all kinds of
cop equipment that they had hanging around the police officer's station.
They was taking plaster tire tracks, foot prints, dog smelling prints, and
they took twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy photographs with circles
and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one explaining what each
one was to be used as evidence against us. Took pictures of the approach,
the getaway, the northwest corner the southwest corner and that's not to
mention the aerial photography."
The local PD probably got giddy over the idea that the US was footing the bill to use all their fancy hardware and tactical training so they went all out.
Police love having an excuse to put on the swat team gear and bang on doors, regardless of what country they live.