Holidaymakers swarm beach after 30 kilos of marijuana washes ashore and then 'vanishes'

Sun bathers and beach goers in Pedregalejo went home with more than just a suntan this weekend after a shipment of marijuana washed up onshore and was swiftly pocketed by locals.

The package of hash was first spotted by one beach goer who alerted a lifeguard, witnesses reported. According to the Spanish daily Diario Sur that the package was part of a larger shipment which had become separated when it knocked against the pier.

Once the onlookers saw what the lifeguard had retrieved, the beach swarmed with people trying to pilfer some of the washed up drugs. "It looked like an anthill," one witness was quoted as saying.

At one point the scene looked as if it could turn violent with some individuals harassing the lifeguard to get hold of the marijuana.

By the time police arrived at the scene at 4:45pm and set up a perimeter the drugs were said to have vanished. Witnesses on the beach said people had stashed the drugs wherever they could, hiding hash in cooling boxes or under their clothes.

Of the whole bundle of 30kg, eventually only 500 grams was recovered by police.