Costa Rican police following an anonymous tip made a startling discovery on a Pacific coast beach, where they dug up a ton of cocaine buried in the sand, authorities said.
The stash of drugs stuffed into plastic bags was found Friday on a remote stretch of beach near the town of Parrita, west of the capital San José, Deputy Minister of Security Celso Gamboa said Saturday.
“This drug seizure was not part of an ongoing investigation, so we need to determine the origin and likely destination” of the cocaine, said Francisco Segura, director of the Judicial Investigation Police.
The discovery came a day after Costa Rican authorities seized another 360 kilograms of cocaine that was being transported in a truck full of scrap metal near the border with Nicaragua.
U.S. officials say hundreds of tons of cocaine arrive each year in the United States from Central America, a major transit route from South America, where cocaine is produced.
