Cocaine worth about $450,000 washes up on Alabama shore

Nearly 55lb (25kg) of what appears to be cocaine recently washed up on the shores of Alabama , local police said.

The police department in the community of Dauphin Island made the discovery, saying the recovered amount was worth about $450,000. Officers then contacted the Mobile county sheriff’s office, which also has jurisdiction in the area and is investigating the situation.

Images released by police show 25 packages of what they said appeared to be cocaine, with a picture of a percentage sign on the front.

The apparent cocaine washed up just one day after scuba divers trying to remove trash found the same quantity of the drug 100ft under water in Key West, Florida.

In that case, the local sheriff’s office in Monroe county turned over the suspected narcotics to US border agents.

Police’s discovery in Alabama served to demonstrate the kinds and amounts of drugs that are sometimes trafficked in international waters off the US coast.

Another large quantity of the drug was found on Dauphin Island in May, when beachgoers searching for seashells stumbled upon $1.2m worth of cocaine.

The US Coast Guard, in partnership with the Dutch navy, last week reported offloading more than 4,800lb (2,177kg) of cocaine worth more than $63m after exchanging gunfire with – and sinking – a boat suspected of smuggling narcotics in international waters near Fort Lauderdale.

The mayor of the Florida city of Tampa, Jane Castor, last year reeled in 70lb (31.8kg) of cocaine worth more than $1m while fishing.