Customs has seized about 26kg of cocaine with a street value estimated at nearly $12 million after an alleged early-morning attempted break-in at the Port of Tauranga.

In a written statement, NZ Customs today said Port of Tauranga security staff contacted police over the weekend of September 16 and 17 after signs indicating a break-in were detected.

Customs said officers searched 36 containers over those two days that were destined for various parts of New Zealand, both in Tauranga and Auckland.

“During one search a quantity of plastic-wrapped ‘bricks’ inside the refrigeration unit of a refrigerated shipping container was found, and later confirmed to be cocaine,” the statement said.

Customs said the estimated 26kg of cocaine seized could have produced around 260,000 doses and was estimated to be worth nearly $12 million in street sales.

According to the Drug Harm Index, this seizure prevented nearly $8m in social harm.

Paul Campbell, Customs group manager maritime, said the time this activity took, and the volume of containers searched by Customs teams from Auckland and Tauranga, demonstrated the magnitude of the task of protecting the maritime supply chain.

“A significant quantity of cocaine has been stopped from ending up in our communities. This result is thanks to close collaboration with our partners.

 “Police were outstanding in their support and the Port of Tauranga security team maintained their tradition of vigilance by alerting authorities straight away,” Campbell said.

“Customs is seeing an increase in quantities of drugs attempting to be smuggled into New Zealand, particularly via shipping channels. We remain alert to trends and use our network of intelligence and investigative resources to identify, target and stop such criminal activities,” he said.

In the same statement, Detective Senior Sergeant Steve Ambler said Customs and police would keep working together to investigate the importation and distribution of controlled drugs in New Zealand.

“Police are committed to disrupting organised criminal groups and the supply and distribution of illicit drugs in our communities.”

Port of Tauranga chief executive Leonard Sampson thanked Customs and the police for their quick responses.

“Port Security did an outstanding job in identifying suspicious activity on the port boundary and I thank our team for their ongoing vigilance,” Sampson said in the statement.

The statement said police had made three arrests.