Tourists find 68 pounds of packaged cocaine along Alabama beach

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By Bob D'Angelo, Cox Media Group National Content Desk

GULF SHORES, Ala. — Gulf Shores advertises itself as a small town with a big beach. Late Monday, tourists at the small town on Alabama’s Gulf Coast made a big discovery -- 68 pounds of cocaine that had washed onto shore.

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The packaged, 31 bricks of narcotics washed up on the city’s West Beach beginning late Monday and lasting overnight, Gulf Shores Police Department spokesperson Lt. Jason Woodruff told WKRG. Officials with the Gulf Shores Police Department estimated that the cocaine had a street value of $1.2 million, WALA reported.

The cocaine bricks were turned over to customs officials on Tuesday morning, the television station reported.

It is unclear where the drugs came from, police said. Officials with the Gulf Shores Police Department and the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency are conducting an investigation, according to WKRG.

Police said they have increased patrols along the beaches, WPMI reported.