Rachel Lang
Police have discovered a mega haul of cocaine floating in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
The 81 bales of the illicit drug was discovered by Operation Hydros, a crack team of New Zealanders that work to foil drug traffickers at sea.
The massive stockpile was found bobbing about at sea attached to buoys and was rightly wrapped in plastic.
The stash of illicit drugs have an estimated street value of NZ$500 million (AUD$453 million) and came stamped with the Batman logo or a four leaf clover symbol.
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Authorities believe the massive haul was bound for the Australian drug market.
Operation Hydros, which is made up of Aotearoa's police, customs and defence forces, have since described the huge find as their biggest drug discovery by 'some margin'.
NZ Police National Organised Crime Unit head Greg Williams revealed that Aussie authorities are 'exceptionally pleased' with their trans-Tasman neighbour's actions to thwart drug trafficking.
"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," Williams said in a statement issued by Operation Hydros.
"There is no doubt this discovery lands a major financial blow right from the South American producers through to the distributors of this product.
"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."
Williams added that the cache of cocaine is an illustration of the extreme lengths that cartels will go to for global drug trafficking operations.
"[It] shows that we are not exempt from major organised criminal drug smuggling efforts in this part of the world," he said.
Authorities believe the huge haul may indicate that drug syndicates are testing other methods of delivery after the coronavirus pandemic brought air traffic to a standstill in recent years.
While it remains unclear as to how the cache came to the attention of police, investigators are now working to identify the criminals who set the drugs adrift in the first place.
New Zealand Police revealed that no arrests have been made at this stage.
The cocaine has been taken to Auckland by Operation Hydros after a six day journey on the HMNZS Manawanui and will be destroyed by Kiwi authorities.
Operation Hydros was an initiative that kicked off in December 2022, as part of New Zealand's working relationship with international partner agencies to identify and monitor the movements of suspicious vessels at sea.