Packages of cocaine worth more than $1 million wash up on Alabama beach

Published 5:43 am Thursday, May 20, 2021

Late-night beachgoers found nearly 70 pounds of cocaine packaged in bundles washed up on the Alabama shore in an area popular with tourists, and police said they probably would never determine where the drugs came from.

Authorities said packages wrapped in plastic began coming in with the surf Monday night, and 30 were eventually collected.

Drug traffickers sometimes use boats and airplanes to cross the Gulf of Mexico, and a police spokesman said officials typically get calls about once a year about smaller amounts of drugs being found along the shore.

“It starts with more questions than answers and we rarely get any answers on these cases,” Sgt. Jason Woodruff told WALA-TV.

Valued at more than $1 million, the cocaine was turned over to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Woodruff said, and police increased patrols along the stretch of beach where the bundles were found in case additional packages wash up.