Packages of cocaine worth more than $100K wash up on Florida beaches

Packages of cocaine worth more than $100,000 washed up on several Florida beaches, authorities said Tuesday.

The drugs were found on three different Walton County beaches on Monday and Tuesday, officials said. Each package was marked with a different design, including one that appeared to mimic the Chanel logo, according to images posted to Facebook by the Walton County Sheriff’s Office.

A beachgoer found the first package of narcotics in Miramar Beach, the sheriff’s department said. The drugs, which were inside a clear bag wrapped in clear plastic, were confiscated and submitted to evidence for destruction.

That same day, a Gulfview Heights beachgoer spotted what appeared to be a brick of cocaine and notified the lifeguard, authorities said. Deputies responded and retrieved the package, which was wrapped in a bio bag. It later tested positive for cocaine and was submitted for destruction.

Deputies were also called to Grayton Beach State Park on Tuesday morning after another brick of cocaine was found, officials wrote on Facebook. The package was brought to evidence so it could be destroyed.

Community members commented on the sheriff’s office post wondering if more drugs had been washed up without being turned in. Officials replied that while they hope that isn’t the case, it is a possibility. They also responded to a person who suggested the presence of drugs may bring more people to local beaches.

“We hope not, considering the amount of fentanyl-laced drugs killing people across the country,” the Sheriff’s Office replied.

The Coast Guard was notified about the drugs. The Sheriff’s Office’s VICE and Narcotics Unit is also looking into the incidents.

Drugs periodically wash up on the shores of Florida. Earlier this year, nearly 150 pounds of packaged cocaine washed up on Big Pine Key. In 2019, bricks of cocaine were discovered on two beaches after Hurricane Dorian lashed the Florida coast.