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

[NBC] 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.

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

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.

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.