In hindsight, a 400kg, jewel-covered statue of a horse head was always going to grab attention.
But the gaudy and conspicuous object was nonetheless the package of choice for two men arrested and jailed in New Zealand's largest cocaine bust.
Now the man who intended to buy its contents has pleaded guilty.
Henry Anchondo was arrested in September last year after going on the run when the deal to buy the drugs broke down in 2016.
A Mexican and an American have been handed down the lengthy sentences for their role in NZ's biggest cocaine bust. (Source: Other)
He admitted to possessing cocaine for supply via video link in the High Court at Auckland on Wednesday, NZME reports.
The sellers, American Ronald Cook Senior, 58, and Mexican man Agustin Suarez- Juarez, 46, were last year each handed minimum jail sentences of nearly a decade after being found guilty at trial.
New Zealand customs agents grew suspicious when the glittering statue arrived by plane from Mexico, finding 35kg of cocaine stashed inside the object upon closer inspection.
It was a staggering catch in a country where police stop about 250 grams of cocaine in an average year, officers eventually showing the massive head off to reporters.
But earlier, authorities had carefully repacked it with 34 identical-looking packages of flour and one containing polystyrene, a tracking device and six grams of cocaine.
When Suarez-Juarez and Cook arrived in New Zealand, first to extract cocaine from the horse head and then to move it on, they were kept under close watch.
This included during their meeting with Anchondo at a central Auckland hotel, where they discovered the tracking device and panicked, before being caught trying to leave the country for Los Angeles.
During the trial, the court heard Suarez-Juarez and Cook were key players in a massive and sophisticated smuggling operation.
Anchondo will be sentenced next month and has no previous convictions.
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