A yacht which sunk in the idyllic water of Vanuatu’s Havannah Harbour was found to have nearly two tonnes of cocaine packed aboard.
The mammoth drug haul was found after a storm blew the boat from where it had been docked nearby onto a shallow reef and then a local alerted authorities.
The Vanuatu Police Force searched the vessel and found its illicit cargo, which Australian Federal Police said was headed for Australia.
The man who called police told local media that two men had approached him in the night and asked for his help to dig out the sand from under the boat in an effort to get it sailing again.
He found it strange they were doing this at night.
Lab testing later revealed the cargo to be about 1.6 tonnes of high-grade cocaine.
Police said a Lithuanian man and a British man have been detained and are assisting with the investigation.
Local media reported the boat was already being tracked by the AFP over suspected smuggling and would have been searched when it made it to Australian shores.
The South Pacific is a known route for smugglers trying to bring drugs into the country and there is also concern islands such as Vanuatu and Fiji could become smaller markets along the way.
