About $6 million worth of cocaine has been discovered hidden in a shipping container in Tasmania, with police revealing the intended destination for the drugs was likely Sydney.
The seizure occurred on March 16 at Bell Bay in the state's north following a tip-off. Charges are yet to be laid.
Fifteen individually wrapped one kilogram packets were found in the container's rear where the motor and fan are located.
The container arrived from Sydney and had been sitting on the dock in Tasmania for several days.
"We believe that the cocaine was intended to be extracted by criminals from the container in Sydney," Australian Border Force Acting Superintendent, Allister Keel, told reporters in Launceston on Monday.
He said the ABF had been conducting high-visibility operations at Botany Bay in Sydney, which likely deterred criminals from retrieving the cocaine.
Tasmania Police Detective Inspector Craig Fox said it was probably the biggest seizure of cocaine in the state.
"We're looking at all sorts of avenues of investigation to see where the container came from," he said.
"(And) who's had access to it throughout the world, so it's quite a big operation.
"This type of seizure is unusual and rare but we'd be silly to think this doesn't happen in Tasmania."
Police in early March seized 1.4 kilograms of cocaine, plus other illegal drugs, from a logistics truck in Hobart that had allegedly been driven on a round trip to Victoria.
