Gail Almond and Scott Meikle went to trial with four others but during the hearing pleaded guilty to cultivating cannabis and having plants for the purpose of sale in their possession.
Court reports at the time show they were arrested after police mounted a surveillance operation at Oponae on March 24, 1999, following a tip-off.
The farm under observation was close to a Carter Holt Harvey forest and two constables kept watch for several days from the adjoining forestry land.
The officers noted in a logbook various comings and goings on four-wheel-drive farm motorbikes and other vehicles. At times, those being watched swapped town clothes for camouflage gear and carried various packages.
There were two huts on the farm property and a gas heater and gas bottles were seen being transported to the top hut, called the Taj.
After three days, the two constables moved to a higher position to observe the top hut.
They saw Meikle emerge with a rifle and walk towards one of the constables. Concerned that he would be discovered, and 35km from back-up in the nearest town, the constable made himself known and arrested Meikle.
The two officers then tied Meikle up and went to search the hut. They found more than 11kg of cannabis material, most of it being dried.
It is unclear what sentence the couple received but former Justice Minister Phil Goff revealed in Parliament in March 2003 that Gail Almond forfeited 145.9ha of bare land in Waioeka Gorge, Oponae, on August 2, 2001, under the Proceeds of Crime Act, 1991.
When asked whether there was a drugs link to the deaths, the officer in charge of the case, Detective Senior Sergeant Mark Loper, said: "Drugs do not appear to have been a factor in what occurred."
The Pukehina house where the pair were found dead on Sunday afternoon is nestled away in farmland between the main highway and coastline at the idyllic holiday spot.
The peaceful location has been transformed into a crime scene as Auckland-based ESR forensic scientists in boiler suits yesterday combed the home for clues while police stood guard at the roadside cordon.
They are expected to remain there until at least the end of today.
Police cars blocked the home's driveway, which is shared with five other houses.
Mr Loper said post-mortem examinations were to be conducted this morning in Auckland after the bodies were removed late yesterday.
It was yesterday reported that the case was believed to be a murder-suicide but police refused to confirm this. They also would not answer a number of other questions put to them by the Bay of Plenty Times - including whether there were children inside the house at the time and who alerted police.
