New Zealand police find 3.5 tons of cocaine in Pacific Ocean

Associated Press
Thursday, Feb. 9, 2023 3:48 p.m. | Thursday, Feb. 9, 2023 3:48 p.m.

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In this undated photo supplied by the New Zealand police, a shipment of cocaine floats on the surface of the Pacific Ocean with Royal New Zealand Navy vessel HMNZS Manawanui behind.

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In this photo supplied by the New Zealand police, a shipment of cocaine found floating on the surface of the Pacific Ocean sits stacked in a container in Auckland, New Zealand, Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2023.

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In this photo supplied by the New Zealand police, a shipment of cocaine found floating on the surface of the Pacific Ocean is stacked on a table in Auckland, New Zealand.

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In this undated photo supplied by the New Zealand police, a package of cocaine found floating on the surface of the Pacific Ocean is measured on board the Royal New Zealand Navy vessel HMNZS Manawanui.

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In this undated photo supplied by the New Zealand police, a shipment of cocaine lies on the deck of Royal New Zealand Navy vessel HMNZS Manawanui in the Pacific Ocean.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — New Zealand police said this week they found more than 3 tons of cocaine floating in a remote part of the Pacific Ocean after it was dropped there by an international drug-smuggling syndicate.

While they had yet to make any arrests, police said they had dealt a financial blow to everyone from the South American producers of the drugs through to the distributors in what was the nation’s largest-ever drug seizure.

New Zealand Police Commissioner Andrew Coster said the cocaine had been dropped at a floating transit point in 81 bales before it was intercepted by a navy ship, which was deployed to the area last week. The ship then made the six-day trip back to New Zealand, where the drugs were being documented and destroyed.

Authorities in New Zealand found over $300 million worth of cocaine floating in the Pacific Ocean. https://t.co/Qd567PstKt pic.twitter.com/nZ08sira8Q

— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) February 9, 2023

Coster said the wholesale value of the 3.5 tons of cocaine was about 500 million New Zealand dollars ($316 million) and it was likely destined for Australia.

“We believe there was enough cocaine to service the Australian market for about one year, and this would be more than New Zealand would use in 30 years,” Coster said.

He said police, customs and the military found the drugs after launching Operation Hydros in December in collaboration with international partner agencies to identify and monitor the movements of suspicious vessels.

Coster said they were continuing to investigate the case with other international agencies.

Bill Perry, the acting comptroller of the New Zealand Customs Service, said the haul illustrated the lengths that organized syndicates were going to in order to smuggle drugs in the South Pacific.

“We see perhaps this is just an indication that the transnational organized crime groups are testing the market in different ways, so as agencies, we need to collaborate,” Perry said.