CATCH OF THE DAY

$2 Million Worth of Cocaine Washes Up on New Zealand Beaches

Locals who found the blue packages with unusual markings first thought they were crates of high-end Champagne.

Nineteen blue packages containing cocaine, with a street value of $2 million, washed up on the shores of Bethells Beach in New Zealand late Wednesday. Local residents who first found the packages told local news media that they had hoped it might be Champagne based on the shape, but were disappointed to learn that it was only drugs. Authorities say more cocaine could wash up on shore. “There is a small possibility that further packages may turn up on the beach and we ask any members of the public to contact us immediately if they do,” Det. Colin Parmenter of the Waitematä Police Department said in a statement. The haul is thought to have been thrown overboard by smugglers fearful they had been caught by drug-enforcement officials.