Sydney criminals linked to washed-up torso

The discovery of a man's torso on a Sydney beach is believed to be linked to drug trafficking.

The man's head, neck, arms and legs, had been removed with "care and skill", an inquest has heard.

The torso, wrapped in a black fitted sheet and bound by chains, washed up on Kyeemagh Beach in Sydney's south in January 2012.

Police still don't know who the person was and who was responsible for his death.

During an inquest on Thursday, police said the torso carried high levels of cocaine traces and had been sliced from a nipple to the pubic bone.

"The detection of cocaine in the liver and bowel, coupled with the incision wound to the abdomen tend to suggest that the deceased could have been concealing drugs internally for the purposes of illegal couriering," coroner Derek Lee said in his findings at the NSW Coroner's Court.

The police investigation also found a family criminal syndicate was based in the area where the torso was found, and had been linked to illegal drug importation.

Just seven days before the torso was discovered, a burnt-out Holden ute was spotted near the area where the remains were believed to have been dumped.

The car was linked to a member of the criminal syndicate in April 2011.

The torso had been weighed down by a rusted 22.5kg barbell weight, a calculated move from his killers, Mr Lee said.

"Those responsible obviously hoped that the torso would not rise to the surface and be discovered," he said.

None of the man's other limbs were found, despite police and the dive squad searching the area extensively.

The way the limbs were detached suggested the killers knew what they were doing, Mr Lee said.

"The surfaces at the points where the amputations were performed were smoothly sawn or cut which suggest that some care and skill was required by the person or persons who did this," he said.

Three separate searches in the missing persons database and continued DNA searches haven't been able to identify the man.

Police believe he was aged between 25-57, heavily built and of European descent.

The case will be referred to the unsolved homicide unit of the NSW homicide squad for further investigation.