Three charged over New Zealand's biggest-ever cocaine shipment

• 725kg of cocaine was imported into the Port of Tauranga via Panama on 25 February 2022
• It was the single largest cocaine shipment to New Zealand, with a street value of more than $253 million
• The haul was equivalent to 7,250,000 individual doses

Three people have been arrested and charged more than two years after the largest ever cocaine shipment was found on New Zealand shores.

A record-breaking 725kg of the drug was found at Port of Tauranga in 2022, with an estimated value of $253.75 million.

Police launched Operation Bask following the discovery, and on Monday said they had arrested three people, all from Auckland.

Two men, aged 27 and 35, and a 41-year-old woman are facing charges including importing cocaine, possessing cocaine for supply and participating in an organised crime group. They were both due to reappear in the Tauranga District Court on 3 October.

National Organised Crime Group (NOCG) Detective Inspector Tom Gollan said the vessel had travelled from "Ecuador, via Panama, with a container of produce loaded with cocaine, in a method known as 'piggybacking'... controlled drugs being loaded into a container of legitimate product in an effort to avoid law enforcement."

More than two years later it remained the largest cocaine shipment to ever arrive on New Zealand shores.

The trio have also been charged with importing 30kg of cocaine that arrived in Tauranga in December 2021, also from Panama.

"We identified the South American shipment as a potential risk before it arrived in Tauranga and that turned out to be the case resulting in the record cocaine seizure that we made," Customs acting investigations manager Nigel Barnes said.

"This joint operation has also provided both police and Customs with further intelligence and insights which are clearly still producing results. These arrests demonstrate the persistence and determination of NOCG detectives and Customs staff in disrupting the drug supply line."