Two packages of marijuana worth $31,000 wash up on beach

Two suspicious packages — containing a total of 31 pounds of marijuana with a street value of $31,000 — were found washed up on island beaches Monday about seven or eight miles away from each other.

The first package was discovered about 7:30 a.m. when a woman walking on the beach in the 3200 block of S. Ocean — south of the Lake Worth beach area — notified Palm Beach Police.

The duct-taped package — about one-foot square by four-inches high — turned out to be 13 pounds of marijuana, with a street value of about $1,000 a pound, said Palm Beach Police Capt. Dan Szarszewski.

"It was packaged for transport," Szarszewski said. "It probably dropped off a boat that was transporting it someplace. By the looks of the package, it had been in the water for awhile. It was faded from the sun."

Szarszewski said the package probably washed up because of the increased surf activity from the effects of Hurricane Gustav.

The second package was discovered in the surf near The Breakers about 3 p.m. by a man walking on the beach. That package, similar to the first with several barnacles attached to it, contained 18 pounds of marijuana, Szarszewski said.