A huge haul of cocaine floating at sea seized Authorities in New Zealand have seized more than 3 tonnes of cocaine floating at sea in one of the country’s biggest drug busts.
About 81 bales of cocaine weighing 3.2 metric tons (3.5 short tons) were seized in the Pacific Ocean as part of Operation Hydros – a joint effort between the New Zealand Police, Customs and Defense Forces.
Those behind the police operation are estimated to be worth half a billion New Zealand dollars (about $318 million).
Few details have been released about how and when the discovery was made, but police released news of the robbery on Wednesday with several images. They include a snapshot of the package’s mass, aided by a number of floating devices.
A huge haul of cocaine floating at sea seized The Batman logo is plastered on one of the packs, while the others are marked with a black four-leaf clover.
An international crime group is believed to be responsible for the money, which police believe was on its way to Australia.
A huge haul of cocaine floating at sea seized “We believe there was enough cocaine on the Australian market for about a year and that would be more than New Zealand consumes in 30 years,” Police Commissioner Andrew Coster said, CNN affiliate 9 News reported.
It took a navy ship six days to ship the drugs back to New Zealand, where they will now be destroyed, police said.
Koster said in a press release: “There is no doubt that this discovery has dealt a major financial blow to the South American manufacturers and distributors of this product.
“This is the largest single seizure of illegal drugs by the authorities in this country. While this disrupts syndicate operations, we remain cautious as long as we know these groups will avoid the attention of law enforcement.”
A huge haul of cocaine floating at sea seized Operation Hydros, which began in December, monitors “suspicious” vessel movements and involves working with international partner agencies, Koster said.
He added: “The importance of this recovery and its impact cannot be understated.”
No arrests have been made, but an international investigation is ongoing.
Bill Perry, Acting Comptroller of the New Zealand Customs Service, added: “This is a great illustration of how far organized crime will go with their global drug trafficking operations and shows that we are not immune to large-scale drug smuggling efforts by organized crime in this part of the world.”
