Police in north Sydney, Australia, are investigating an incident where five plastic wrapped packages believed to contain cocaine were discovered washed up at two beaches.
The bricks were found by beachgoers at Freshwater and Curl Curl beaches on Monday, April 1.
The cocaine parcels, which weighed 5kg in total, have been linked to a drug mystery -a massive shipment of cocaine that has been washing up in bits since December.
The washed cocaine translates to a street value of over $900,000, assuming a sale price of $180,000 per kilo as reported by the NSW Crime Commission.
“As inquiries continue, the public are reminded to report any suspicious package to authorities,” NSW police said in a statement on Tuesday, April 2.
Cocaine parcels discovered
The first package was spotted in Central Coast region-about 90km(55miles)north of Sydney-three days before Christmas.
In January, NSW Police told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation they believed the drugs had originated in South America and likely made their way to Australia via a cargo ship.
More than 250 kg of cocaine has been found ever since the discovery.
“Sometimes we do see where items are deliberately tossed into the ocean to be picked up by another vessel,” State Crime Command director Jason Weinstein told BBC.
According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, OECD, Australians are the highest per capital users of cocaine in the world, followed by Britain.
