Customs has seized nearly $12 million worth of cocaine and three people have been arrested in a major drug bust.
It began last weekend (September 16 and 17) when security detected signs of an attempted early morning break-in at the Port of Tauranga, which led to three alleged offenders' arrests.
Customs officers then searched 36 containers destined for various parts of New Zealand, both in Tauranga and Auckland.
One search found plastic-wrapped 'bricks' inside the refrigeration unit of a shipping container. This turned out to be 26 kilograms of cocaine - which Customs estimates is worth nearly $12 million in street sales.
Port of Tauranga CEO Leonard Sampson thanked Customs and police for their quick response.
"Port security did an outstanding job in identifying suspicious activity on the port boundary and I thank our team for their ongoing vigilance," Sampson said.
Customs group manager maritime Paul Campbell said the scale of the search operation shows the magnitude of protecting the modern maritime supply chain.
"A significant quantity of cocaine has been stopped from ending up in our communities. This result is thanks to close collaboration with our partners," Campbell said.
"Customs is seeing an increase in quantities of drugs attempting to be smuggled into New Zealand, particularly via shipping channels. We remain alert to trends and use our network of intelligence and investigative resources to identify, target and stop such criminal activities."
A spokesperson for police, Detective Senior Sergeant Steve Ambler, said together with Customs they will continue to investigate and hold to account people importing and distributing drugs.
"Police are committed to disrupting organised criminal groups and the supply and distribution of illicit drugs in our communities."
