$4m of pot on beach in California highlights smuggling trend
$4m of pot on beach: The $4 million in marijuana found near an abandoned boat near Santa Barbara is not the first. Police say more than 20 of these pot smuggling boats have landed in the area in the past year.
$4m of pot on beach: The $4 million in marijuana found near an abandoned boat near Santa Barbara is not the first. Police say more than 20 of these pot smuggling boats have landed in the area in the past year.
Authorities have found about $4 million worth of marijuana and a panga boat at a beach in Santa聽Barbara County.
The boat was spotted early Sunday at Arroyo Quemado Beach. Partially hidden in bushes were 50 plastic-wrapped bales of pot with a combined weight estimated at 2,000 pounds.
The 30-foot boat with two outboard engines was apparently abandoned and had at least 20 fuel containers on board. Panga boats are often used for smuggling people or drugs into the United States from Mexico.
The use of these boats to smuggle drugs and illegal immigrants is growing, according to a statement on the website of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's office:
Earlier this month, marijuana worth at least $1 million was discovered near a boat abandoned on the Vandenberg Air Force Base coastline.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.