Whopping 120kg of cocaine washes up on NSW beaches … and it may not be over

The tidal wave of cocaine packages appearing on beaches between Sydney and Newcastle since Christmas has sparked a major police investigation and sent Sydney’s underworld into a spin.

State Crime Command take carriage of investigation into 124kg of washed-up More packages found washed up on Magenta Beach. Picture: Supplied

A massive 120kg of cocaine has now washed up on beaches between Sydney and Newcastle, with police launching a major investigation into where it came from and who it belongs to.

The first bricks of cocaine landed at Magenta Beach about 8pm on Friday, December 22, with a further search of the beach finding three more, and then three more similar bricks washed up at Manly, Avoca, Blacksmiths, Pelican, Pentaloon and North Steyne beaches in the lead up to Christmas.

As the waves continued to push packages into shore, by the end of Christmas Eve police had collected a total of 46kg of cocaine.

A further two discoveries on Boxing Day – one of a blue barrel at Barrenjoey Headland and another a black package at Newcastle Ocean Baths, both with approximately 39kg of cocaine in them – has taken the total drugs seized to 124kg.

A total of 124kg of cocaine has washed up on NSW beaches in the past few days, including this 39kg package at Newcastle on Boxing Day. Photo: NSW Police / Supplied

Each brick of cocaine is individually stamped, including at least one with a Tesla logo. Photo: NSW Police / Supplied

The Daily Telegraph understands each brick of cocaine features a picture of “stamp”, used by drug cartels to distinguish who they belong to once on Australian shores.

Police sources confirmed at least one of those is a Tesla logo.

The investigation into the cocaine has been taken over by the NSW Police State Crime Command, with its boss Jason Weinstein thanking members of the community who have assisted in alerting them to the packages.

“We thank those who have heeded the warning to report any suspicious packages to police as we get to the bottom of this matter and we remind people that being in possession of a prohibited drug is a criminal offence,” Detective Chief Superintendent Weinstein said.

NSW Police State Crime Command has taken control of the investigation, with Detective Chief Superintendent Jason Weinstein (pictured) thanking the public for their assistance in locating the packages. Picture: NSW Police

“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.”

International drug cartels use a variety of ways to import large sums of drugs, with one common way to attach the shipment to the bottom of cargo vessels and then have scuba divers retrieve it when it is in port.

This method was allegedly used at Newcastle Port last year, resulting in the death of a scuba diver as he tried to retrieve the goods.

One of the early packages that washed up between Sydney and Newcastle last week. Picture: NSW Police

An underworld source said the beached shipments had likely ruined Christmas for those who the drugs belonged to.

“Everyone is speculating about who it is and what happened,” the source said.

“I think there may be a few boys heading up the coast doing some beach walking seeing if they can find a package or two before the cops.”

In the past drug shipments into NSW have been as big as several hundred kilograms, with police – and the underworld – set to be on high alert for anymore packages that wash up in the coming days.