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A family enjoying their vacation on South Carolina’s Fripp Island came across a mysterious package washing up on the beach. Police say they stumbled across over a half-million dollars of cocaine.
The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office said they were contacted on Sunday night after a member of the group spotted the package and transported it back to the vacation house where his family was staying.
“Of course, we responded, did a field test on it, and it did test positive for cocaine,”
Bromage confirmed the package contained a total of 20 kilos of cocaine or around 44 pounds. Police estimate the current street value of cocaine is $30,000 for each kilo, which works out to a possible total value of $600,000.
“So you’re looking at half a million dollars in street value, conservatively,” Bromage told WTOC
Investigators believe the drugs are not local.
“If at all possible, we’re going to determine where they came from. Many times, this is not a local thing. It’s an international operation.”
Major Bromage says the drugs likely washed up on shore due to Hurricane Dorian. In a similar incident, a kilogram of cocaine washed up in Florida after the storm.
“Again, this could be directly related to Hurricane Dorian.”
The investigation is still ongoing. Federal investigators are helping in the search for the origin of the drugs.
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