Police want  to identify fourth man was captured on CCTV as he was leaving a hotel in Auckland, Australia

The man was akso captured by security cameras outside a sports store

Three men, a 44 year-old Mexican national and a 56 year-old US national have been charged, Friday, with attempting to import the largest quantity of cocaine, ever into New Zealand. The drug was hidden in a diamante encrusted horse head sculpture, which the suspected imported inton the country. When police and customs officials inspected the artwork, they discovered 35 bricks of high-grade cocaine inside the sculpture.
Another Mexican male, 29, was arrested othe next day in an apartment block in Christchurch.  A fourth man, with a spanish accent, was still been sought by the autorities in connection with the crime.
They wera all charged with importing a Class A drug, namely cocaine and Possession for supply of a class A drug, namely cocaine.

35 bricks of high grade coke was found inside a diamante encrusted piece of sculpture: Estimated value $10 million

Officers from Christchurch Police in New Zealand were also carrying search warrants at two residential address where two men and a woman were speaking with Police.
Importing the class A drug cocaine is punishable by life imprisonment.
This was New Zealand’s  biggest ever cocaine bust after finding $10 million worth of the drug stashed inside a diamante-encrusted sculpture of a horse’s head. Police are still looking for a fourth man with a Spanish-sounding accent who was caught on CCTV in a hotel in Auckland on Friday.

The exquisitely decorated  piece of art was merely a mule for  transporting high-grade cocaine.

Police officers and customs officials seized the artwork, which weighed 880 pounds, shortly after it was freighted into the country from Mexico in early May. They opened it up and were stunned to discover 35 bricks of high-grade cocaine inside.
“This is obviously an extremely large amount of cocaine, and in the past we’ve only found very small amounts of this drug,” Detective Senior Sergeant Colin Parmenter, from the Organised Crime Auckland squad, said in a statement on Saturday.

Customs officials seized the  880 lbs artwork

In a statement, Customs Investigations Manager Maurice O’Brien, attributed the successful interception of the shipment  by the anti-drug unit to a system of ‘intelligence-led and risk-based approach at the border’,  and the seizure is the result of good profiling systems and inspection capabilities. The joint operation with NZ Police and international engagement with other law enforcement agencies proved its worth in advancing the investigation.