New Zealand Police Find Over 3 Tons of Cocaine Floating in the Ocean

It's probably not a great day for the international drug trade after New Zealand police on Wednesday said they discovered about 3.5 tons of cocaine just floating in the ocean.

In what they are calling their biggest-ever drug bust, authorities are saying the drugs were dropped off by an international drug syndicate before being intercepted by a navy ship. The bust is part of a joint operation by police, customs, and the military called "Operation Hydros," according to the Associated Press.

Naturally, the Internet had fun with the news, with "cocaine shark" trending after the story first broke.

Via the Associated Press story:

New Zealand Police Commissioner Andrew Coster said the cocaine had been dropped at a floating transit point in 81 bales before it was intercepted by a navy ship, which was deployed to the area last week. The ship then made the six-day trip back to New Zealand, where the drugs were being documented and destroyed.

Coster said the wholesale value of the 3.2 tonnes (3.5 tons) of cocaine was about 500 million New Zealand dollars ($316 million) and it was likely destined for Australia.

“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,” Coster said.

New Zealand plans to continue investigating the case alongside international partners as multiple countries work to crack down on the international drug trade.

Allegedly, some of the bundles of cocaine had the bat signal - the logo attributed to the superhero Batman.