Police in Auckland were in for a treat last week when officers from the Waitemata West Tactical Unit arrested two suspected shoplifters, retrieving hundreds of chocolate bars and lollies.

Police took to Facebook to share the news and were unable to resist a few jokes, suggesting that the haul was "nothing to Snicker about".

They revealed that the arrested pair were allegedly prolific shoplifters and planned to on-sell the sweet treats, but that police "weren't going to have a bar of that" and the pair were "in for a choc" when they were charged over the thefts.

Police said they would be speaking to the retailer to arrange the return of the goodies.

The post attracted thousands of views and hundreds of comments, with many saying that they loved the humorous approach, with one person noting that the person that shared the news "must be a Dad", to which the police quickly responded: "*Mum".

One user gave the thieves tongue-in-cheek praise for their choice of NZ-made Whittakers chocolate, while others decided to go pun-for-pun with the police.

Gareth Davies commented: "Well done NZ Police! Your job can be difficult when it comes down to the Crunchie, but you've clearly got a few Twix up your sleeve and were able to recover the Bounty from these not-so-Smarties."