Police said on Wednesday they had seized enough cocaine to supply New Zealand for 30 years, after seizing a package of the drug floating in the Pacific Ocean.
New Zealand police commissioner Andrew Coster told reporters that the haul – containing 81 balls of cocaine – weighed 3.2 tonnes and was worth about $316 million.
“This is the biggest drug find by a New Zealand agency by some margin,” he said.
Officials believe the drugs were dropped off at a “floating transit point” in the Pacific Ocean, where they will be picked up and brought to Australia.
A police photo shows this massive haul tied by a net and covered with yellow floats. Some of the halls have Batman symbols, and the packages of cocaine inside are labeled with what appears to be a print of a four-leaf clover.
“We believe it is destined for Australia, where it is enough to serve the market for a year,” Coster said.
“That’s more than New Zealand will use in 30 years.”
A naval vessel intercepted the bundle, which was flying hundreds of kilometers north-west of New Zealand, thanks in part to intelligence from the “Five Eyes” alliance.
The decades-old intelligence-sharing network includes the US, Canada, the UK, Australia and New Zealand.
Coster described the bust as a “big win” for police in New Zealand and Australia.
“There is no doubt that this discovery deals a major financial blow directly from the South American producer to the distributor of this product,” he said.
Officials said it was too early to determine where the drugs came from.