After declaring a mystery cocaine hoard on the New South Wales coast likely gone, a further 50kg (110lb) of the Class A narcotic has since been found.
Almost 40kg (88lb) of the drug was found in one location when 39 bricks were found in a package washed up on a beach in Botani this week.
Rescuers in North Bondi also found a package floating in the waters in their patrol area on New Year’s Day.
After the initial discovery, by New Year’s, police said the majority of the cocaine may have been found because most of the cargo ship shipments, from which police believe the cocaine came, contained about 120kg (264 pounds) of the drug.
However, the latest confirmed find brings the total to 170kg (374 pounds) of drugs handed over to police since December 22.
Almost 40kg (88lb) of the drug was found in one location when 39 bricks were found in a package washed up on a beach in Botani this week. NSW Police
Despite the initial discovery a few days earlier, it wasn’t until Christmas Eve that police first issued a public warning about the package, as more of the drug began to accumulate on Sydney’s northern beaches as far as Newcastle.
To date, packages have been found at Blacksmiths Beach, Pelican Beach, Pantaloon Bay, Magenta Beach, Avoca Beach, Barrenjoey Headland, Ocean Beach, Manly Beach, North Bondi and Botany.
Other large quantities found in one location include 39 kg (85 pounds) found on Boxing Day when a fisherman at Barrenjoey Headland found a blue barrel floating offshore and 39 sealed bricks found in a package washed ashore at Newcastle Ocean Baths the same day .
NSW Police State Crime Command Director Jason Weinstein told the ABC he believed the shipment was from South America and that cargo ships were the preferred method of drug smuggling.
After the initial discovery, by the New Year, police said the majority of the cocaine may have been found because most of the cargo ship’s shipment, which police believe the cocaine came from, contained about 120kg of the drug. Getty Images
“We know the syndicate will use several methods through shipping containers,” he said.
“Sometimes we see where goods are deliberately tossed into the ocean to be picked up by other ships.
“The reason it’s showing up now is probably due to the tropical storm in North Queensland and the significant rough seas and high tides in the last few weeks.”
It is unclear whether the package that washed ashore was thrown overboard or lost in some form of accident, but due to the presence of barnacles on some of the finds it is believed to have been in the water for some time. .
Weinstein also asked the public not to go looking for the remaining packages after the two had to be rescued by water police in Pittwater when they allegedly went on a search of their own.
“If someone is caught in possession of one of these bricks, it’s a large commercial quantity and can carry a prison sentence of 25 years to life, so it’s a huge penalty,” he said.
Categories: Trending
Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
