Family man confronting crime wave in paradise
Scots policeman Steve Macdonald could have been forgiven for thinking he’d swapped the mean streets of Britain for a quiet life on the force in a remote corner of New Zealand.
Ringed by pristine golden beaches and temperate Pacific seas, Kaitaia looked the ideal place to settle down and raise a family when he moved there 11 years ago.
However, it wasn’t long before the former Met detective realised he’d arrived in the country’s murder capital – and that drugs, guns, gangs and violence were sadly commonplace.
“Before I moved to Kaitaia I had never even heard of the place,” admitted Steve, 43.
“It really is an idyllic spot but in my first six years there I investigated seven homicides.”
In 2016 alone there were four killings, which put the small town with a population of just 5000 in the international media spotlight. Feared gangs such as the Mongrel Mob and the Head Hunters, who control the multi-million-dollar meth trade, also operate in the district.
Two years ago, New Zealand Police made the biggest bust in the country’s history when 494kg of the drug, worth £230m, was seized from abandoned boats and stashes buried on beaches.
“To most visitors this place looks like paradise, and in many ways it is – but what they don’t see is what we have to deal with on a daily basis,” said Steve.
The expat detective was born in Bellshill, South Lanarkshire, and was brought up on Arran.
He now lives at Far North beauty spot Doubtless Bay with his French wife Violaine and their two children Tara, 10, and eight-year-old Tane.
When he is not chasing criminals, Steve likes to spend time at the beach and enjoys diving, fishing and hunting.
“Workwise, here you are a jack of all trades and get to do everything including investigating murders and helping to bust drug operations.
“It would be hard now to give this up and move back to Scotland. I love it. And so do my wife and kids.”