High tide: why are cocaine bricks washing up on Sydney beaches?

More than 250kg of the class-A drug has been found on NSW beaches since December as soaring Australian demand drives the illegal trade

Five suspected cocaine blocks have been found on Sydney beaches, joining a mass that has washed ashore in New South Wales since December.

The five parcels were discovered early on Monday morning at Freshwater beach and North Curl Curl beach, and have been seized for forensic examination by officers from the Northern Beaches police area command. They have a street value of close to $1m.