16 Kilos Of Cocaine Wash Up On Florida Beach, Second Time In Three Months

The Drug Enforcement Agency has confiscated 16 kilos of cocaine that washed up on a number of beaches across on Florida’s Atlantic coast on Tuesday, just months after a similar drug discovery on the very same beaches.

The St. Augustine Beach police received a report that two small packages washed up on shore, close to a quarter mile away from a public access point to the water. A third package was found shortly afterward on another local beach.

A sweep of the beach by police officers and St. Johns County deputies turned up even more of the packages spread out from the St. Augustine Beach pier to the Fort Matanzas ramp.

Inside the packages police found 16 kilos of cocaine, and this isn’t the first time a major drug discovery has been made in the area. In May, bales of cocaine washed up on the nearby shores and were collected by authorities. Police say the cocaine found in May was worth $7 million in total.

The discovery pales in comparison to another major drug seizure this year. In August, Australian police officers found 750 kilograms of cocaine on a luxury yacht traveling near the island of Vanuata. They estimated that in total the cocaine haul was worth $370 million Australian dollars ($334 million US dollars).

It also doesn’t rank among the most creative ways to smuggle cocaine. Last month, police in South Dakota arrested a pair of carnival workers after it was found they hid 37 grams of crack cocaine in one of the prizes.

Police have not disclosed the value of the 16 kilos of cocaine that washed up on the Florida shores, but estimates put it at close to $300,000.