Image copyright AFP Image caption Some of the shipment was believed to be destined for Christchurch 
 
 New Zealand police say they have made their biggest ever seizure of cocaine, hidden inside a novel kind of drug mule. 
 
 They intercepted the $10m (£7.6m) worth of cocaine inside a huge diamante-encrusted statue of a horse's head. 
 
 The shipment of 35kg (77lb) bricks was air-freighted from Mexico to the city of Auckland in May. 
 
 An American and two Mexicans were arrested over the weekend following a six-week investigation. 
 
 The horse's head weighed 365kg and was 1m (3ft) tall, the New Zealand Herald reported. 
 
 "This is a significant win for New Zealand," said Det Supt Virginia Le Bas. "We should be proud to have detected it at the earliest of stages." ||||| National News 
 
 A joint Customs and Police investigation has resulted in the largest-ever seizure of cocaine in New Zealand, worth an estimated street value of $14 million NZ dollars. (Pictures available and video expected to be available in a few hours) 
 
 In early May, Customs officers focussed on a 400 kg sculpture of a diamante-encrusted horse, which had been freighted into the country from Mexico. Their suspicions were confirmed when inside the horses head were 35 bricks of high-grade cocaine. 
 
 A subsequent joint investigation has today resulted in the arrest of three men with the smuggling attempt. 
 
 Officers from the Police Organised Crime team arrested two men last night at Auckland International Airport and a search warrant is being carried out this morning at a residential address in Te Atatu. 
 
 The men, a 44 year-old Mexican national and a 56 year-old US national have been charged with the following and will appear in the Manukau District Court this morning. 
 
 - Importing a Class A drug, namely cocaine. 
 
 - Possession for supply of a class A drug, namely cocaine. 
 
 Officers from Christchurch Police are also carrying search warrants at two residential address in Worcester St, Linwood, and two men and a woman are speaking with Police. 
 
 Importing the class A drug cocaine is punishable by life imprisonment. 
 
 “This is obviously an extremely large amount of cocaine, and in the past we’ve only found very small amounts of this drug. Prior to this, the average amount of cocaine seized by Police each year was around 250 grams. What this find tells us though is that there is obviously a demand for it. While it’s possible that this statue may have been sent on to another country, but there’s every possibility that the cocaine was destined for the New Zealand market and we would be naïve to think otherwise” says Detective Senior Sergeant Colin Parmenter, Officer in Charge, Organised Crime Auckland. 
 
 Customs Investigations Manager Maurice O’Brien says Customs has an 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. 
 
 “We maintain strong relationships with offshore border partners to share information about illicit trade as they move around the globe. It takes an international enforcement network to disrupt a transnational crime syndicate. This seizure shows our systems are working well regardless of the type of drug or commodity” says Mr O’Brien. 
 
 Police are not ruling out further arrests as the investigation continues. 
 
 ENDS 
 
 Beth Bates/NZ Police 
 
 Media: Det Supt Virginia Le Bas will hold a press conference at 12.30pm at Harlech House, 482 Great South Road Otahuhu. 
 
 Plans are underway to get the diamante-horse to Harlech House so media can film it. Videos of the cocaine are also expected to be available by 12.30pm in a dropbox link.
– Go big or go home—or, in the case of a bunch of drug smugglers nailed in what New Zealand is calling its biggest drug bust ever, to the big house (aka prison). Per the BBC, New Zealand police found 77 pounds worth of cocaine bricks—with a street value of up to $14 million, according to the New Zealand Herald—crammed into a most-unusual vessel: a sequin-adorned statue of a horse's head. The head, which the Guardian describes as a "less than inconspicuous sculpture" that weighed nearly 900 pounds and concealed the coke bricks in the base of its neck, was intercepted by New Zealand cops and customs officials after being shipped from Mexico to Auckland in May. "This is a significant win for New Zealand," a head detective says. "We should be proud to have detected it at the earliest of stages." Cops have already arrested two Mexicans, ages 29 and 44, and a 56-year-old American and are now trying to determine if Auckland was meant to be the final stop or if the horse head and its powdery cargo were supposed to go to another destination. A Massey University researcher speculates the coke may have been meant for the country's east coast. The Guardian notes that cocaine finding its way into New Zealand is an uncommon occurrence due to meticulous border control and because it's far from most major overseas drug markets. "What this find tells us … is that there is obviously a demand for it," a senior sergeant says, per a press release. "While it's possible that this statue may have been sent on to another country … there's every possibility that the cocaine was destined for the New Zealand market and we would be naive to think otherwise." All three suspects are facing charges of importing and possession for supply of a Class A drug, which could lead to life in prison. (Colombia recently had its biggest coke bust ever.)