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Bricks of cocaine wash up on Florida beaches from Hurricane Dorian waves

Another 15 bricks, also believed to be cocaine, washed ashore on nearby Cocoa Beach.

More than a dozen bricks of cocaine washed up on two Florida beaches Tuesday from waves churned up by Hurricane Dorian, police said.

At around 8 a.m., a Melbourne police officer on foot patrol at Paradise Beach Park was alerted by a beachgoer that something suspicious appeared to have washed ashore.

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When the officer checked it out, he found a package "wrapped in a way that was consistent with narcotics," a Melbourne police spokeswoman said.

Image: Cocaine package found at Paradise Beach, Florida.
Cocaine package found at Paradise Beach, Florida.Melbourne Police Department

The brick was tested and was determined to be a kilo of cocaine, the spokeswoman said, adding that it will be destroyed.

On the outside of the brick appeared to be the beginning of a word but the only letters visible are "D-I-A-M-A-N-T." Melbourne police declined to comment on what was written on the brick, citing its investigation.

Over in Cocoa Beach about 20 miles north, police were alerted to a duffel bag that had washed ashore and found 15 bricks of cocaine inside, Sergeant Manny Hernandez said.

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In the Orlando area, one kilo of cocaine is estimated to be worth $20,000 to $30,000, he said. The bag has since been turned over to the U.S. Custom and Border Protection, he said.

Dorian, now a Category 2, began lashing the east coast of central Florida Tuesday night, prompting hurricane warnings for coastal Florida areas as well as warnings in Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina.

Before moving toward the U.S. Coast, the slow-moving hurricane battered the Bahamas, killing at least 20 people there.