In France, the police are faced with a mystery: For days, cocaine has been found there on beaches in large quantities. Officials have no clues as to where it may have come from - and believe there may be more making its way to shore.
More than two tons of cocaine have washed up on the coast of northern France in the past few days. The waterproof packaged drug loads were found on two beaches, the AFP news agency learned from informed circles. The cocaine found has an estimated market value of 150 million euros.
The first batch of drugs was reportedly discovered last Sunday on the beach at Réville in Normandy. It was more than 800 kilograms of cocaine. Then on Wednesday, more drugs were found on the nearby beach of Vicq-sur-Mer. Investigators assume that more drugs may be washed up on the beaches. According to the information, the police still have no information on the origin of the cocaine. Drug dealers may have thrown it overboard voluntarily to avoid arrest. Or the drugs were washed overboard in bad weather, according to another theory.
It's not the first time cocaine has been found on French beaches. At the end of 2019, packages containing a total of 1,600 kilograms of cocaine appeared along the Atlantic coast between Saint-Jean-de-Luz in the south-west of the country and Camaret in the north-west. At the end of May 2022, packages containing a total of 21 kilograms of the drug were found on a beach in the municipality of Berck in northern France.
Just recently, a huge find of cocaine on the other side of the world caused a stir: authorities found 81 packages totaling 3.2 tons off the coast of New Zealand. It was the "biggest find of illegal drugs," it said. The amount could have covered the island nation's consumption for 30 years.
