Authorities in New Zealand announced on Wednesday that they had discovered 3.2 tonnes of cocaine floating at sea that was thought to be headed for Australia and was worth more than €295 million.
In a joint operation with the New Zealand Customs Service and the New Zealand Defence Force, the New Zealand Police claimed in a statement that it had collected the drugs from the Pacific Ocean.
An international drug smuggling agency is suspected of having dropped it there.
A police photo showed the haul, apparently before recovery, in a net supported on the ocean surface by floats.
While no arrests have been made, police in New Zealand say the country’s largest drugs seizure has dealt a financial blow to everyone from the South American producers of the drug through to the distributors.
“This is one of the single biggest seizures of illegal drugs by authorities in this country,” Police Commissioner Andrew Coster said in a statement.
“While this disrupts the syndicate’s operations, we remain vigilant given the lengths we know these groups will go to circumvent coming to law enforcement’s attention.”
Acting Controller Bill Perry of the New Zealand Customs Service estimates that the value of the seizure is NZ$500 million ($320 million).