Lines in the sand: $60 million worth of cocaine washes up on eastern English beach

[February 11, 2017]  LONDON (Reuters) - Over $60 million dollars' worth of cocaine in brightly colored holdalls has washed up on two beaches in eastern England, investigators said on Friday as they appealed for the public to keep a lookout for any more.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) said it was examining the discoveries near the resort of Great Yarmouth, some 140 miles (200 km) northeast of London.

The first holdalls were discovered on Thursday afternoon and more were found nearby on Friday.

In all, around 360 kg of cocaine has been washed ashore in what the NCA called "a major blow to the organized criminals involved."

"We are now ... trying to establish how the bags ended up where they did," said Matthew Rivers, from the NCA's border investigation team.

"It is extremely unlikely that this was their intended destination."

Police Superintendent Dave Buckley said he believed all the packages had now been recovered but appealed for anyone finding more to contact police immediately.

"We will have extra officers in the area to monitor the situation," he cautioned.

(Reporting by Alistair Smout; editing by Stephen Addison)

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A law enforcement officer stands by holdalls containing cocaine that were washed up on Hopton Beach, near Great Yarmouth, Britain February 9, 2017. Photograph taken February 9, 2017. National Crime Agency/Handout via Reuters