French ‘narco-tourism’ alert as washed-up cocaine draws beachcombers

French authorities have warned about "narco-tourism" on northern Channel beaches after news of more than 2 tonnes of cocaine washing ashore drew dozens of beachcombers, some equipped with quad bikes.

Residents of villages along the Normandy coast have described an influx of unfamiliar people in luxury cars and 4x4s who have been scouring the sand this week.

The local prosecutor Philippe Astruc issued a public warning on Friday about the risks of taking part in what he described as "narco-tourism".

"The act of taking possession of one of these bundles and transporting it is a crime that carries a punishment of up to 10 years in prison," he told reporters.

Furthermore, the cocaine posed a serious health risk because it was likely to be 80-90% pure, far stronger than anything usually sold by street dealers, he added.

"At the present time, we don't know the purity of this substance," he added, but if it was the usual strength of imported cocaine then it could be "fatal" if consumed.

He stressed that a young man had died in 2019 after taking cocaine that had washed up along the west coast of France in the previous major incident of this kind.

Armed police were patrolling the beaches regularly with the help of a helicopter which was flying low over the water to spot any suspect packages in the sea.

Investigators were still uncertain where the cocaine came from, whether traffickers threw it overboard deliberately to avoid arrest, or whether it came loose from their boats in heavy weather, sources close to the investigation said.

On Wednesday, the government said that French police had seized 27 tonnes of cocaine last year, a fivefold increase on the level 10 years ago, as Europe faces a surge in trafficking and use of the drug.

Seizures were up 5% last year compared with 2021, according to interior ministry figures, with more than half of the narcotic transiting via the West Indies and France's poverty-stricken South American region of Guiana.

As the illegal trade has swelled, most cocaine now enters Europe through northern ports such as Rotterdam, Antwerp, Hamburg and France's Le Havre.