Cocaine haul worth $48 million washes ashore on Japan beach

TOKYO--A haul of cocaine with an estimated street value of $48 million has washed ashore on a beach south of Tokyo, reports said Thursday, with authorities suspecting seafaring traffickers.

An elderly local resident found 80 kilograms (175 pounds) of the drug inside backpacks that were tied together and reported it to police, Jiji Press and other media said.

The bags were outfitted with a buoy and illuminated markers and authorities suspect that they were lost by seafaring traffickers, the reports said.

Police reportedly said the drugs had an estimated street value of 4.8 billion yen ($48 million).

Local authorities declined to comment on the reports when contacted by AFP.