Bundles of cocaine washing ashore in coastal Texas county

Authorities in a coastal Texas county are asking beachgoers to not pick up any suspicious items in the water after several packages of cocaine washed ashore in recent days.

The Matagorda County Sheriff’s Office says 50 kilos, or 110 pounds, of the drug have washed ashore in the past week. Authorities did not name an exact area where the drug was turning up, but Matagorda County is on the Gulf of Mexico in between Corpus Christi and Galveston.

Authorities say that once the drug becomes wet, it can leak from the package and absorb onto the skin, possibly making someone sick.

The bundles were processed, photographed and placed in evidence lockers for proper disposal, the sheriff’s office said.