Biloxi police officers are investigating the mysterious appearance of 15 blocks of suspected cocaine found on the beach.
Air Force Sergeants Association's Keesler Base Chapter 652, a non-profit organization filled with retired, active, and veteran serviceman and their families, initially found eight of the bricks during its weekly volunteer beach clean-up and then handed them over to law enforcement. WLOX reports more bricks were found on Deer Island.
"There was likely to be a larger amount of drugs that either fell off a vessel or they were intentionally dropped off to be picked up by someone else or another group of individuals," said Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics Director Steven Maxwell. The investigation is still ongoing.
Law enforcement says there's a possibility this isn't an isolated incident. The Sun Herald reports 126 pounds of cocaine washed on the shore of Key Largo. And overall, that's just a drop in the bucket of drugs washing up on shore, according to a legal blog. It occurs regularly in Florida.
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"As a place with a large water-based landscape, Florida is no stranger to drugs washing up on the coast," HG legal resources wrote. "Whereas drugs are beginning to show up on Florida's northern beaches, Broward and Dade counties have been the primary places. 70,000 pounds were found in 2009, 39,000 in 2011, 78,000 pounds in 2012 in Broward and Dade counties. On the beaches of St. Augustine area in St. Johns County, in May 2013 $7 million worth of cocaine washed up, followed by 16 kilos of cocaine that September.