Ngati Dread

When you talk about terrorism, most people in New Zealand think about problems overseas. But those in Gisborne and the East Coast merely cast their minds back to the Ruatoria Troubles. From 1985 until 1990 the township was terrorised by a cannabis-growing Maori sect calling itself the Rastafarians. Their story is one of the most bizarre chapters in modern New Zealand history. Yet most people have never heard of The Rastas or their reign of terror... until now.