50 kilos of cocaine wash ashore on Fort Morgan Peninsula

50 kilos of cocaine wash ashore on Fort Morgan Peninsula

The Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report that 50 cocaine bricks (above) that ended up weighing a total of 110 lbs. were bobbing in the surf just west of the Bon Secour Wildlife Refuge on the Fort Morgan peninsula on June 26. Swimmers dragged the wrapped cocaine to shore and called authorities. The cocaine bricks were wrapped together in black plastic and had a street value of $1.5 million, according to the BCSO.
The Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Investigations will continue investigating. Sheriff Anthony Lowery is asking the public to report any additional found bundles immediately to local law enforcement.
“We ask the public not to open bundles or packages, as they could contain hazardous chemicals or dangerous drugs,” he said in a news release.
“It’s not uncommon for us to find a bundle, and then a few days later, another washes up. Sometimes they’re individual packages,” BCSO Capt. Danny Steelman said.
In 2021, there were several reports of cocaine washing up on the beach, including 77 pounds in one spot, between Gulf Shores and Fort Morgan. Police said t is not uncommon to find a bundle of drugs on a beach and find more bundles for up to a week following the original discovery.
Also, a beachgoer in Walton County, about 80 miles east of Pleasure Island, discovered 25 bricks of cocaine with a street value of $500,000 while walking along the Gulf of Mexico on June 29.
“While enjoying our beautiful beaches, if you come across any square groupers, please call the Walton County Sheriff’s Office immediately and do not touch suspicious packages. The contents could be extremely harmful. We’re here if you need us,” the WCSO posted.
The bricks found in Walton County were wrapped in packaging stamped with Yosemite Sam – the iconic gun-brandishing cartoon character, and that is also not unusual.
During last August’s Hurricane Debby, 25 packages of cocaine featuring a red geometric logo washed up onto a Florida Keys beach. That same month, tourists found a package with 16 bricks of suspected cocaine wrapped in packaging depicting a dune buggy on a Florida beach.
In separate Florida Keys incidents in June of 2024, boaters found 65 pounds of cocaine in packages emblazoned with bald eagles and divers found about 55 pounds of cocaine about 100 feet underwater in packages marked with imitations of Nike’s iconic swoosh logo.
Law enforcement officials estimate that about 90 percent of the cocaine consumed in North America comes from Colombia. Traffickers often try to smuggle cocaine over the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean with speed boats and submarines.
Cocaine can be dumped into the water to evade detection from law enforcement or to be picked up by other smugglers, but currents or storms can carry the packages to shore.