Solomons

Police Commissioner Matthew Varley said it also shows the region's police forces are getting better at uncovering it.

He said the Solomons' operation disrupted the shipment of 500kg of cocaine with a street value of $US140million to 215m.

The shipment was found on board a yacht originating in South America.

A series of similar hauls in Fiji earlier this year prompted experts to speculate crime syndicates would redirect supply routes through other Pacific countries.

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.

Provincial Police Commander Central Province, Superintendent Patricia Leta said the loading capacity was for six passengers but a total of 16 boarded the boat.

She said least 12 people were confirmed to have survived the tragedy and there were children among the survivors

The police said the boat had been travelling from Toa to Burungia village in Central Province yesterday.

Superintendent Leta said a police inquiry will be held and police at Tulagi will work closely with relatives of the deceased and the survivors.

They said a 20-year-old man was believed to have been attacked on Monday by one of the reptiles at Hove River in the Tangarere area.

His body was found at the river the next day by relatives.

The province's acting police chief Nixson Manetoga says officers have been sent to the area to get more information and permission from community leaders to hunt and kill any crocodiles in the area.