Armed offenders squad officers have carried out a raid in East Auckland but failed to find the escaped prisoner they were after.
Several roads in Bucklands Beach were cordoned off on Friday morning as a large number of officers swarmed the area.
Police say the operation involved Storm Hughes, 33, who walked away from a working party outside Springhill Prison in North Waikato on Wednesday. He was supervised by five instructors at the time.
Hughes is classed as a minimum security inmate, despite what police say is a significant history of violent offending in Australia.
He is serving a sentence of almost three years for wounding with intent to injure.
Police have received a number of possible sightings of Hughes, including reports of him being near Bombay and Pukekohe, near Auckland, on Thursday morning.
Hughes is described as European, of medium build and 1.71 metres tall. He has short blond hair and tattoos on his arms and neck. He should not be approached.
Corrections Minister Judith Collins is demanding answers from her department over Hughes' escape.
Mrs Collins says she does not believe the process of classifying prisoners is as robust as it should be.
Hughes is the first prisoner to escape from Springhill Prison since it opened in 2007. The Department of Corrections has begun an investigation.
