It was a six-part drama series telling the (mostly) true story of how the most comically inept gang to ever join forces got half a billion dollars worth of methamphetamine to New Zealand shores - and nearly to market - before being caught thanks to the sharp eyes of Far North locals.
They would have got away with it too, if it wasn’t for a pesky 70-year-old diesel mechanic Ed - played by Morrison - and his aqua-aerobics instructing wife Heather - played by Malcolm. The real-life couple they are based on helped foil the operation.
The man known as Ed in the series was enlisted to help the group launch their boat so they could get the drugs from the ‘’mothership’' at sea and bring them back to shore. The group had deceived the local, saying they wanted to spread a relative’s ashes.
An unsuccessful attempt to launch the boat unfolded like a comedy of errors and the group scrambled to get another, paying cash for a $98,000 rigid-hull inflatable boat. Featuring enough food in the boat to ‘’feed a marae’' for a week, the fact that the group were wearing gloves, and one had $500 in his hand, led the local to believe this was more than just a trip to spread ashes.
He called the police. But it wasn’t until the group beached the boat, on retrieving the drugs, that the attention of the police was fully caught. A few hours later, police were interviewing the local man about the group, and the group drove past.
“My wife said ‘there they go, they’re driving past’,” the local said.
The police went on to find 52kg of meth buried in sand dunes and 449kg in a campervan.
