Police are appealing for information after the barnacle-covered drugs washed up on the NSW Central Coast. Photo: Supplied / NSW Police
Police suspect bricks of cocaine that washed up on beaches between Sydney and Newcastle this week may have been attached to a cargo ship bound and pushed ashore by a wild weather system that hit Queensland.
A total of 124 kilograms of the drug in dozens of tightly bound packages have been found by members of the public, scattered along the NSW coastline in the past week.
NSW Police State Crime Command director Jason Weinstein said they were still trying to trace exactly where the shipment came from, but believe it originated from somewhere in South America and was bound for Australia.
"We know syndicates will use a number of methods through shipping containers," Detective Chief Inspector Weinstein said.
"Sometimes we do see where items are deliberately tossed into the ocean to be picked up by another vessel."
It's unclear how long the cocaine had been at sea, but some parcels were found covered in barnacles.
King tides and Tropical Cyclone Jasper
Some of the cocaine from by NSW police after the first bricks were found on 22 December, 2023. Photo: Supplied / NSW Police
Detective Chief Inspector Weinstein said given the size and packaging of the shipment, it may have been attached to the hull of a cargo ship under water before coming loose and washing up on popular swimming beaches and rocky coastline.
"The reason it's appearing now was probably due to the tropical storm in North Queensland and the significant rough seas and king tides in the last few weeks," he said.
The investigation began when the first brick of cocaine was found on a Central Coast beach on the Friday before Christmas.
A search the following day uncovered three more parcels, with three found at Manly, Avoca and Blacksmiths beaches.
On Sunday, a further seven parcels were discovered by members of the public at Magenta Beach, Pelican Beach, Blacksmith Beach, Avoca Beach, Pentaloon Bay and North Steyne Beach.
After a public warning from NSW Police about the suspicious packages, on Boxing Day a fisherman at Barrenjoey Headland off Sydney's northern beaches came across a blue barrel, containing another 39 individually wrapped packages that each allegedly contained 1 kilogram of the illicit substance.
Later that same day, another 39 sealed bricks each allegedly containing a kilogram of cocaine was found at Newcastle Ocean Baths.
Launching your own search comes with risk
Some of the cocaine from by NSW police after the first bricks were found on 22 December, 2023. Photo: Supplied / NSW Police
Police are warning people not to launch their own search parties after two people suspected to be looking for more illicit product had to be rescued by water police in Pittwater earlier this week.
"If someone is caught in possession of one of these bricks, it's a large commercial quantity and that carries 25 years to life imprisonment, so its a significant penalty," Detective Chief Inspector Weinstein said.
"That amount of drug in possession of a person, if someone was to ingest part of that, they could overdose and die.
"We don't know what the purity of that is just yet, we don't know what is mixed in with that, there's a whole range of unknowns."
For any opportunistic criminals who are still hoping to find more of the shipment, police believe they may have already found it all.
"Some of the time when we've seen things attached to cargo ships we're talking around the 120 kilogram mark," Detective Chief Inspector Weinstein said.
Police said the recovered packages had "significant barnacle growth" covering the outer plastic wrapping, and have warned the public against removing or opening any more that are discovered.
Anyone who may have seen similar packages is urged to call triple-0, local police or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
- This story was first published by the ABC