Shortland Street makers turning Ninety Mile Beach meth bust case into movie

Monday, 24 June 2019

Ahipara, at the base of Ninety Mile Beach, will be a key feature of a new movie about the 501kg meth bust.

The Ninety Mile Beach meth importing case is being made into a movie by Shortland Street maker South Pacific Pictures.

The case was New Zealand's largest-ever drug bust, with 501kg of methamphetamine landing on Northland's Ninety Mile Beach on 12 June 2016.

Stevie Cullen and Selaima Fakaosilea were found guilty of importing methamphetamine to Ninety Mile Beach and participating in an organised criminal group, in a trial at the High Court in Whangārei.

Six people pleaded guilty to their part in the importation, while Stevie Cullen and Selaima Fakaosilea were found guilty by jury trial in the High Court in Whangārei earlier this month.

They will be sentenced on 12 July.

A total of 501kg of methamphetamine was found by police in relation to the Ninety Mile Beach meth importing case.

* Ninety Mile Beach meth importing trial: Guilty verdicts for both accused

* Meth importing trial: Bags of money run to Bangkok, Whangārei High Court hears

* Meth importing trial: Bungled boat launch sends operation into spin, High Court told

Police found this brand new boat abandoned on Ninety Mile Beach, a clue which help lead to the largest ever meth bust.

South Pacific Pictures chief executive officer Kelly Martin said she thought the story was a case of the truth being stranger than fiction.

The bizarre story includes a failed boat launch in high swells, a second boat bought with cash, a rendezvous with a 'big boat' out at sea and a new boat being abandoned on Ninety Mile Beach.

Those behind a massive haul of methamphetamine seized in Northland were running a business the size of a top 50 company. Video first published in 2016.

'It's such a good story - such a crazy story - it will make a great film,' she said.

The movie will not be genre-specific, with parts of the story covering comedy and other parts drama, Martin said.

But the film will focus not just on the criminal group but the local people impacted by the bust, she said.

Martin said it was 'far too soon' to say who might be cast in the film but she said it would have some on-location shooting at Ninety Mile Beach.

'It's such a particular part of the world.'

The film is being written by director and researcher David White, who has exclusively interviewed some of the key witnesses in the case.

White produced feature documentary Shihad: Beautiful Machine (2012) and co-directed documentaries I Kill, Lex and The Cleanest Pig.

'He's got a particular style of filmmaking but he came to us with this story; he's spent time up north and he knows the story really well,' Martin said.

White is working with South Pacific on a feature-length comedy, This Town, which will be released later this year.

South Pacific Pictures is best known for its TV series like Shortland Street, Westside and Outrageous Fortune as well as feature films including Whale Rider and Sione's Wedding.