Cocaine bust

New Zealand authorities have intercepted more than three tonnes of cocaine from a vessel in the Pacific Ocean - the largest find by "some margin".

RNZ reports a media conference was held at Police National Headquarters detailing the bust.

Operation Hydros - a joint mission by police, Customs and the Defence Force - seized 81 bales of the drug, totalling 3.2 tonnes, with an estimated street value of half a billion dollars.

3.2 tonnes of cocaine was seized in Operation Hydros. Photo: NZ Police / Supplied

Operation Mist National Organised Crime Group director Detective Superintendent Greg Williams told media this afternoon that so far about 50kg of cocaine has been seized either here in New Zealand or overseas ports.

The media stand-up comes after seven search warrants were executed yesterday in Canterbury which resulted in eight arrests, including six Colombian nationals and one Argentinean national. One other person in Auckland was arrested.

Police also seized 2kg of cocaine from a workshop that was owned and operated by the older American man in Neiafu amd the couple’s rented home in Houmelei.

The arrest is part of ongoing investigations into the discovery of packs of cocaine that washed up on beaches in Vava’u.

Acting Deputy Commissioner of Police, Halatoa Tafua said they want to remind the public and foreign nationals that it possession or distribution of illicit drugs is a serious offence.

Five Tongan nationals have also been detained in relation to the cocaine bust.

German officials discovered 16 tonnes in five shipping containers that had arrived in the port of Hamburg from Paraguay earlier this month.

Police in the Netherlands were notified and a further 7.2 tonnes of cocaine was seized at the Belgian port of Antwerp.

German officials said the cocaine had a street value of billions of euros.

A 28-year-old man suspected of involvement in the trafficking of the drugs has been arrested in the Netherlands, Dutch police said on Wednesday.

According to a police statement forensic work was still ongoing but initial assessments indicate that onboard the yacht is a commercial shipment of several hundred kilogrammes of cocaine.

Solomon Islands police boarded the Vieux Malin - a double-masted yacht- yesterday morning outside the Honiara marina after receiving information from Australian authorities.

The cocaine was concealed in a cavity behind a false wall panel in the interior of the yacht.

Forty kilogrammes of cocaine were found earlier this month on the same island.

The defence force said more than 12 kilogrammes of the drug was found on the island in the Lau group last week.

A New Zealand navy ship is helping Fiji patrol its waters and it moved in after a request from Fiji's customs agency.

An earlier 40 kilogramme cocaine haul is estimated to be worth about $US15 million.

An Australian couple have also appeared in court for smuggling 15 kilograms of cocaine and $US10 to 15 million worth of ecstasy into Fiji.

Australian Aukuso Junior Paulo, 34, and New Zealander Kigi Kamuta, 39, were two of three men arrested while travelling with two semi-automatic weapons and A$650,000 (NZ$712,000) in cash, during a planned police operation in the eastern suburbs park.

A third man, Royce Royal Hura, 27, was also arrested at the scene. Both Hura and Paulo were former players of the Parramatta Eels rugby league club in the NRL.

New Caledonia's newspaper said the operation was launched a week ago when a navy vessel was sent out in a joint mission with police and customs officials.

The report of Les Nouvelles Caledoniennes gave no details of where the yacht was caught but it said it happened several days ago and four people were detained.

The navy vessel, Le Vendémiaire, returned to its Noumea base this morning, with dozens of masked military men guarding the offloading of the drugs which have been moved to an undisclosed destination for destruction.

The Australian Federal Police have arrested at least six people, including a 63-year-old New Zealander, and found 1.4 tonnes of cocaine.

Police said the drugs had a street value of more than $300 million.

The ABC reported that more arrests were likely.

New Zealand Customs Deputy Controller of Operations Bill Perry said the Australian Defence Force intercepted the boat about 300km off the coast of Sydney last week.

"The boat was moored at Tauranga before it left the country in January and headed up into the Pacific.