Drugs cache found on Spanish island beach with waterproof GPS

A beachgoer on the Spanish island of Formentera stumbled across cocaine with an estimated street value of 4 million euros in three packages attached to a waterproof GPS system, a report said on Thursday.

The packages, possibly from a boat just off shore, were tied together and partially hidden under seaweed.

Police said they contained contained 83 kilos (182 pounds) of cocaine but were unable to give more details due to a judicial secrecy order placed on the investigation.

Investigators believe smugglers dumped the packets to avoid detection and intended to use the GPS to retrieve them later, local daily newspaper Diario de Ibiza reported.

Formentera is the smallest of the four main Balearic Islands. It is located just to the south of the party island of Ibiza.

Spain’s close ties with its former colonies in Latin America have made it the main entry point used by drug smugglers to bring cocaine into Europe.

Police seized over 22 tonnes of cocaine in Spain in 2015, a 43 percent increase over the previous year.