A 20-year-old man who allegedly snatched his two-year-old son from his former partner in the Far North yesterday will appear in the Kaikohe District Court today.

Up to 50 police, including the armed offenders squad, were involved in the operation from about 7.30am.

The boy and his mother were the subject of a protection order.

A hunting rifle was in the vehicle but Mr Swann said his understanding was that the firearm was not carried during the alleged abduction.

After the kidnap, the man eventually made his way to Teal Bay where he parked his dark green 1997 Ford Falcon station wagon under a pohutukawa tree at a reserve at the end of the beach, near an estuary.