More than three tons of cocaine were intercepted by New Zealand authorities in a collaborative international interdiction operation in the Pacific Ocean.
“This is one of the single biggest seizures of illegal drugs by authorities in this country. 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,” said New Zealand Police (NZP) Commissioner Andrew Coster, per an NZP news release.
The announcement was made Wednesday following the discovery of 3.5 tons of packaged cocaine floating in a remote part of the ocean, having allegedly been deposited there by trans-oceanic drug smugglers and destined for Australia, explained Coster.
“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 explained in the press statement.
Authorities noted that the cocaine was likely worth $500 million New Zealand dollars, roughly the equivalent of $316 million in the United States, however, no arrests have been made thus far in conjunction with the multi-ton seizure.
“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,” said Coster, per AP News.
Coca cultivation and cocaine production has historically been based in the Andean region of South America, with Colombia, Bolivia, and Peru coming in as some of the top producers of the drug in the world.
As previously reported in The Dallas Express, smuggling across the southern border is one of the top ways drug traffickers get illegal drugs into the United States, with Texas being one of the more significant transit points and markets.
Illicit drug use and trafficking are an especially serious problem in Dallas, where the local government has struggled to get a handle on the prevalence of drug-related criminal activity.
Drug offenses increased by 34% between 2020 and 2022, with reported offenses on track to maintain that hike in 2023 year-to-date, according to the City of Dallas Open Data crime analytics dashboard.
Additionally, serious drug overdoses have increased during the same time frame by a dramatic 100%, as previously reported in The Dallas Express.
