(Underbelly NZ - The Land of the Long Green Cloud/2011) Based on true events, this is the story of the real Mr Asia, Marty Johnstone and New Zealand?s first ever drug cartel, The Syndicate. The story of how a boy from Auckland?s North Shore became an international playboy with an industrial scale global drug empire. A true event in New Zealand?s history that is almost Shakespearean in its charting of the rise and fall of this extraordinary character, who due to a penchant for his own product and a misplaced trust in his friends, ultimately became the architect of his own demise.
Set in the 70s when New Zealand?s most notorious criminals and young entrepreneurs got together to grow a small-scale Kiwi operation that soon gained momentum, eventually spawning a cartel that spanned the globe. This is essentially a coming of age story, where sex, drugs and rock ?n roll held New Zealand in its thrall, where big dreams became a glittering reality and living in the fast lane was de rigour.