Australian police said Wednesday they were scouring beaches after mysterious packages believed to contain more than 120 kilograms (260 pounds) of cocaine washed up over the Christmas period.
A first batch of 39 barnacle-encrusted, one-kilogram bricks of suspected cocaine was discovered on Friday near Magenta Beach, north of Sydney, police said.Since then, another 85 packages of the same size had been spotted along about 80 kilometres (50 miles) of the New South Wales coastline, state police said.
Police urged people to report any suspicious packages, Detective Chief Superintendent Jason Weinstein said in a statement.
¡°Detectives and specialist police are currently combing beaches and coastlines for any outstanding packages and working behind the scenes to make sure we find and hold accountable those responsible,¡± said Weinstein, who is director of the state¡¯s crime command.
Earlier on Tuesday, two men have appeared in court after an estimated 300kg of cocaine was seized from a cargo ship in the Republic of Ireland.The boat was docked at Foynes Port in County Limerick on Tuesday.
Kamen Petkov, 35, and Nikola Penchev, 32, were both charged with possession of a quantity of cocaine for sale and supply.?Garda¨ª (Irish police) said the cocaine had an estimated street value of about €21m (?17.3m).The drugs were discovered on a large grain carrier which docked in the port.
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