The 3.2 tonnes of cocaine intercepted by New Zealand authorities in the Pacific Ocean is a "punch to the nose" for drug import syndicates, according to Australia Pacific Security College's Jose Sousa-Santos.
Operation Hydros was a joint effort by police, customs and the NZ Defence Force.
In a media conference yesterday, the authorities said the drugs have a street value of "half a billion dollars".
In total, 81 bales of cocaine have now made the journey back to New Zealand aboard the Royal New Zealand Navy vessel HMNZS Manawanui after being discovered a week ago. The drugs have now been destroyed.
New Zealand authorities have intercepted 3.2 tonnes of cocaine that was found floating adrift in the Pacific Ocean. (Source: 1News)
Speaking to Breakfast this morning, Sousa-Santos said drug syndicates will be the ones to feel the blow from the seizure, not necessarily the drug producers.
"The hole for the producers themselves won't be that large at all, you know the main markets for them is the US, the UK, 3.2 tonnes for a Mexican cartel or for a Colombian cartel is not that much of a hit."
But he says: "The impact will be for the syndicates or the entities which are importing the drugs and this is where I think the Operation Hydros has really given this organisation a punch on the nose because now we will see scrambling by what's the largest syndicate in the region."
Sousa-Santos said it is important to keep in mind that while this is a success, it won't be the only syndicate operating in the region.
"It was only recently we had the airplane in Port Moresby that crashed with 500kgs of cocaine on board, we have drugs that are trafficked through Africa to Australia."
"But this is definitely a hit to what is most likely the largest syndicate in the region."
He added that the size of the interception itself was what would have been expected over a period of 10-15 years.
"I think the difference here is this is the first time that we've been able to recover a full load in its entirety."
Authorities said yesterday no arrests have been made at this stage, but, inquiries will continue into the shipment. They wouldn't elaborate on how they knew where to find the floating shipment of drugs.
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