DEEP WHITE

Diver’s Body Found Near 110 Pounds of Cocaine Floating in Water

The unidentified diver was wearing sophisticated equipment that lets a person breathe underwater without producing a trail of bubbles.

An unknown diver was found unconscious floating in the water Monday near the New South Wales Port of Newcastle. The man, who later died and whom police have not yet been able to identify, was found by port officials shortly before police found packages containing cocaine worth an estimated $20 million floating in the water. The diver was wearing expensive scuba equipment including a “rebreather” that lets a person breathe underwater without producing a trail of bubbles. Police are looking into whether the cocaine could have come from the hull of a nearby cargo ship that had arrived in Newcastle from Argentina on Sunday, the AP reported, and have been searching the ship and interviewing the crew. The unidentified man, who police suspect was not an Australian national, was wearing a wetsuit from an Australian brand, and police are asking any dive shops that sold a rebreather and the same wetsuit in recent days to reach out to them.