Photo: Joe Raedle (Getty)
Even though Hurricane Florence has come and gone, a good portion of the Atlantic coast remains under a high-tide warning. Only this water doesn’t bring life threatening conditions, simply jail time.
Related: 10 Craziest Beach Accidents
Since Florence began battering the east coast last week, beach-goers have stumbled upon huge blocks of “sea weed” washing up along the east coast, mostly in the Florida region. Police estimate over 100 pounds of marijuana have been recovered so far. Much of the blocks contain individually wrapped five-kilo bricks.
Huge marijuana bundles are washing up on Florida beaches after hurricane Florence, and swimmers are fighting over them https://t.co/Ej3dYKKxUo pic.twitter.com/Pytzwo6Tjr
— National Post (@nationalpost) September 18, 2018
Giant marijuana bundles wash up on Florida beaches, but don’t try to keep them https://t.co/ylby6BjfUE
— Washington Post (@washingtonpost) September 18, 2018
People were faced with an ethical dilemma. Call the police? Or seize the day?!
Many chose the latter.
“We’re at Jungle Hut and a huge bundle of drugs or something just washed up on the beach and there are people like fighting over it”: After Hurricane Florence, huge bricks of weed are washing ashore in Florida…. https://t.co/JtYoS1Doux
— Richard Fausset (@RichardFausset) September 18, 2018
Take A Look: Here’s Where Recreational Marijuana Is Legal
Recreational marijuana is illegal in Florida.
So where is all the pot coming from?
According to The Washington Post, police have seen this before and believe it’s coming from a boat that capsized by the storm or a missed airplane drop.
But the bundle was just one of many that came ashore on eastern Florida’s central coast, and Flagler officials said they recovered about 100 pounds over two days. That doesn’t include the packages that were removed from the bundles by beachgoers who then fled, to include a woman in a yellow bikini who was photographed snagging at least one package from the Jungle Hut bundle, and did not stick around for law enforcement’s arrival. The Flagler sheriff distributed a photo of her in the apparent act of pot theft, but she remains at large, Hackett said.
Police also noted that traffickers usually brand their cocaine bundles with a stamp, but nothing was found on the cannabis packaging.
All the marijuana found thus far has been turned over to Customs and Border Protection. But who knows — take a trip to the coast and go ‘seashell hunting’ and see what pops up.
Josh Helmuth is sports reporter in St. Louis who contributes to Mandatory.
