Locals on alert as parcels of cocaine continue to wash up on Aussie beaches
Since December, 'bricks' of cocaine in varying quantities have washed ashore on Sydney beaches and along the north and south coasts.
As parcels of cocaine continue to wash ashore along beaches in NSW, locals have sprung into action and taken it upon themselves to search the surf for more "bricks" of the illicit substance.
On December 22 last year, 39kg of cocaine was found at Magenta Beach on the Central Coast and since then, "bricks" in varying quantities have continued to wash up on beaches all the way from the north coast, to Manly, Bondi and the south coast.
Yesterday, another five packages of cocaine were found along Sydney's Northern Beaches at Freshwater and Curl Curl, north of Manly. Volunteers doing a beach clean-up found the first three "very suss bricks wrapped in tape" at Freshwater and soon after a further two were found near South Curl Curl Surf Life Saving Club.
Police find further five 'bricks' of cocaine on Sydney's Northern Beaches
"About 7.30am, police were notified three suspicious packages had been located at Sydney's Northern Beaches [at Freshwater]. About 8.25am, police were notified two further packages had been found [at Curl Curl]," a spokesperson for NSW Police told Yahoo News Australia.
"Officers attached to Northern Beaches Police Area Command seized the items, which will be forensically examined. Police from Marine Area Command conducted patrols with no further finds."
As inquiries continue, the police spokesperson said, the public are "reminded to report any suspicious package to authorities". In the hours since the discoveries, locals have been spotted dotting the shoreline in a bid to assist the police in their quest to find more packages.
Locals spot odd rectangular product floating off Freshwater
In one video uploaded to social media, seemingly taken at the time officers scoured the ocean at Freshwater on Monday, one man can be seen trying his luck off of some rocks.
The footage shows an unusual-looking rectangular product floating in the water, which those recording theorise could be another bundle of drugs. "Where did it come from," a man can be heard questioning companions at the start of the video. "Surely", another voice is then heard saying.
"It's right there, it's right there," another voice says as a man walks to the edge of a rock to try and fish out the item. Eventually, he manages to grasp it, bringing it onto the rock.
After a few seconds he signals to his friends with a thumbs down that the item found was not cocaine.
A total of 213kg of cocaine had been collected on the shore between Sydney and Newcastle, with almost 90 kilograms of that washing up since the start of the New Year.
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