THE DISCOVERY of almost 40 kilograms of cocaine at Newcastle Ocean Baths has sent shockwaves through Newcastle.
But, it's not the first time the city has been rocked by a drug haul mystery - some which have been resolved and some which have not.
Here are five drug busts that seem stranger than fiction.
Bag stuffed with 39kg of cocaine found at baths
A multi-agency investigation is under way after sealed parcels of cocaine washed up at the Newcastle Ocean Baths on December 26.
Police confirmed a member of the public raised the alarm and detectives found a suspicious package containing 39 individually sealed parcels, adding up to a suspected 39 kilograms of cocaine, about 5.30pm.
State Crime Command detectives are leading an investigation, backed by Australian Border Force and Surf Life Saving NSW, after about 124 kilograms of cocaine bricks washed up on beaches between Newcastle and Sydney in the past week.
The Newcastle haul could have a street value of more than $11 million.
Divers allegedly tried to get cocaine from ship hull
Two Norwegian nationals are set to stand trial accused of trying to retrieve 82 kilograms of cocaine from the hull of a ship in Newcastle Harbour.
Investigators claim the two men were professional divers that were flown into Australia by a drug trafficking ring.
The pair has pleaded not guilty to attempting to possess a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug.
A pre-dawn scuba diving operation was allegedly thwarted when Australian Federal Police and Organised Crime squad detectives shone bright lights in the water before the men fled, leading to a dramatic foot chase on Honeysuckle Drive on January 25.
Dead diver found with $20 million worth of cocaine
A superyacht tour operator plotted a drug importation that was discovered when the body of a professional diver was found floating in Newcastle Harbour.
James Blake Blee Senior illegally smuggled in two Brazilian nationals from Indonesia into Australia so they could retrieve 108 kilograms of cocaine out of the sea chest of a bulk carrier on May 9 last year.
Blee has disputed the quantity of cocaine prosecutors say he smuggled into Australia.
The massive importation plot was discovered when a diver that was wearing specialist diving gear - including a rebreather that does not produce bubbles - was found floating in the harbour surrounded by bricks of cocaine, totalling about 54 kilograms.
The bulk carrier had sailed from Argentina via the Marshall Islands before arriving in Newcastle.
The muso, 'Brisk Eagle', catamaran and $245 million of cocaine
Craig Lembke was a talented saxophonist and an accomplished flautist, a well-known member of the Newcastle music scene, but he was living a double life.
At some point between September 30 and November 15, 2017, Lembke - the super chill muso and part-time model who had a reputation as being a bit of a Casanova - became knowingly involved in an international drug syndicate who used the code names "Black Prince", "Spider Wizard", "Scarecrow" and "Brisk Eagle" and who plotted to import 700 kilograms of cocaine - with a street value of $245 million - on board a catamaran from Tahiti to Australia.
Police pulled bricks of cocaine out of the twin hulls of the catamaran Skarabej during raids on November 15, 2017.
Lembke was jailed for his role and became eligible for parole in November this year.
Container ships packed with coke ... that never came
Prominent horse racing and polo identity Felicity Fraser was jailed earlier this year for almost a decade for her involvement in plans to ship hundreds of kilograms of cocaine into Australia.
The 44-year-old worked in an administrative role for her boss, Peter Leslie Ritson, for a company attempting to bring in shipments of cocaine from South America between 2017 and 2021.
Three shipping containers arrived in Australia while Fraser was working for the freight company - with promises of between 100kg and 250kg of cocaine in each of them - but none contained drugs.
Planning for a fourth shipment was delayed by COVID-19 and never arrived.
Fraser had told someone during the conspiracy that there would be money coming in to "buy some bloody plane tickets".
Fraser received only a small wage and Newcastle District Court heard she had been vulnerable and exploited by her boss, who remains before the courts.
Fraser was arrested in February, 2022.
