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Hundreds of treasure hunters scour French beaches for 15 tonnes of spilled cocaine, risking ten years in prison

Cocaine like that which washed ashore along an 80km stretch of the Gironde and Pyrénées-Atlantiques coastline after a botched deal in the Bay of Biscay.
Cocaine like that which washed ashore along an 80km stretch of the Gironde and Pyrénées-Atlantiques coastline after a botched deal in the Bay of Biscay.

A botched drug deal in the Bay of Biscay sent 15 tonnes of cocaine drifting onto France's Aquitaine coast, and by Wednesday night hundreds of opportunists on quad bikes and motorcycles were scouring an 80km stretch of the Gironde and Pyrénées-Atlantiques shoreline with flashlights. One woman, Leina, told RMC radio she had spent four days searching almost the entire coast, driven purely by the prospect of buying a house and a car. Police have patrolled continuously since Tuesday, conducting identity checks on those caught on the beaches.

Masked men spotted loitering at Biscarrosse in Landes fled when they spotted TV drones overhead.

Guillaume, one searcher, said: 'Life is hard, so it doesn't matter if we don't do things legally.'

Anyone caught faces up to ten years in prison and a €7.5 million fine under French narcotics law.

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