Roughly a ton of marijuana was found on a drug smuggling boat beached on Monday in California, with three people being detained for questioning after being located nearby, a Los Angeles County sheriff's spokesman said.
According to Reuters, found near a popular Malibu-area surfing spot, the so-called panga boat was loaded with bundles of marijuana, said Deputy Joseph Baclawski of the Los Angeles sheriff department's special enforcement bureau.
The Leo Carrillo beach is known to be popular among local surfers.
"It's hard to say for certain the exact weight because the drugs are wrapped, and sealed numerous times, in large bundles," Baclawski said, adding that authorities were basing the estimate based on visual clues. "Two thousand pounds (910 kg) is about all these pangas can fit."
The Southern California coastline, which involves deep V-bottom pangas, has seen an upswing in drug arrests since the past four years. However, spotting a beached boat with loads of drugs on a popular beach is a rare finding during the daylight hours, Baclawski said.
"Usually they try and hit much more secluded beaches and at night, so if they made a daytime landing, then something went wrong," he said. "Either the motor broke or they ran out of food and water."
After the beached boat was discovered, a search began to locate the owners. Within half a mile, three people were caught and detained for questioning, he said.
"In the past two years, agents have apprehended some 1,300 people, seized more than 200 vessels and recovered more than 135,000 pounds (61,235 kg) of drugs along the coast between the Mexican border and Rancho Palos Verdes, a Border Patrol spokesman said in January," Reuters reported.
By comparison, 33 vessels with no drugs were recovered and 230 people were apprehended in 2008, the spokesman said at the time.
