New Zealand Recovers 3 Tonnes of Cocaine Floating in The Sea, Officials Announced

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New Zealand Police said it a statement it had collected the drugs from the Pacific Ocean in a joint operation with the New Zealand Customs Service and the New Zealand Defence Force.

New Zealand authorities said on Wednesday that they had recovered 3.2 tonnes of cocaine worth more than $300 million, believed to be bound for Australia and found floating at sea.

The drugs were collected from the Pacific Ocean in a joint operation by the New Zealand Police, the customs service and the New Zealand Defence Force.

No arrests have so far been made in the case.

According to Police Commissioner Andy Coster, 3.2 tonnes of cocaine seized was enough to supply the New Zealand market for 30 years.

Officials believe the consignment were dumped at a "floating transit point" in the ocean, where they would have been picked up and transported to Australia.

New Zealand Customs Service acting controller Bill Perry said the 81 bales of cocaine seized "is estimated to have taken more than half a billion dollars' worth" of the drug out of circulation.

The haul was made possible by the intelligence sharing between the "Five Eyes" alliance.

The network, which is several decades old, includes the US, Canada, Britain, Australia, and New Zealand.

"There is no doubt this discovery lands a major financial blow right from the South American producers through to the distributors of this product," Coster said.