Cocaine worth $1.9 million has washed up on a New Zealand beach

By Julia Hollingsworth, CNN

Updated 0641 GMT (1441 HKT) August 8, 2019

Packages containing cocaine that were found on a New Zealand beach on August 7, 2019.
Packages containing cocaine that were found on a New Zealand beach on August 7, 2019.

(CNN)Packages containing millions of dollars worth of cocaine have washed up on a New Zealand beach made famous in a 2015 Taylor Swift music video.

Police found 19 packages containing cocaine worth an estimated $1.9 million (New Zealand $3 million) on the isolated Bethells Beach, on Auckland's west coast, police said in a statement Thursday. A caller had informed them of the packages on Wednesday evening.
A still from Taylor Swift's "Out of the Woods" video clip.
A still from Taylor Swift's "Out of the Woods" video clip.
Police said there was a "small chance" more packages could wash up on the beach.
    Authorities are still working to determine where the drugs came from. A helicopter will search the area Thursday, and regular police patrols will monitor beaches.
    Bethells Beach is a popular nature spot where Swift filmed the music video for "Out of the Woods," a single from her album "1989," in 2015. Swift reportedly described Bethells as "the most beautiful beach" she had ever visited at the time.
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    It's not the first time that drugs have been found on a New Zealand beach. In 2016, police intercepted almost 1100 pounds (500 kilograms) of methamphetamine -- most of it from a washed-up boat on the country's North Island. Authorities estimated the haul was worth $323 million (New Z