14 DAY TRIAL // A haul of cocaine that washed ashore a beach south of Tokyo, Japan was estimated to the astonishing street value of $48 (€36) million and was presumably lost by some seafaring drug lords. The event is now known as the biggest drug seizure in Japan's history.
A local citizen from the city of Yokosuka, Japan, discovered four backpacks filled with small bags of cocaine, on a beach near a US Navy base. Each backpack contained about twenty bricks of cocaine, each wrapped in plastic and waterproof tape and weighting almost 2 pounds (one kilogram), according to Kotaku.
Combined, the backpacks had almost 176 pounds (80 kilograms) of cocaine and became the biggest illegal drug seizure in Japan. The bags were meticulously outfitted with a buoy and illuminated markers, so it is very probable that the backpacks were lost at sea by traffickers, according to TV5 Online News Portal.
Japan seems to have a bit of a struggle with drugs lately. Just a few days ago, a Japanese politician was detained in China on suspicion of possessing stimulant drugs while at Guangzhou's Baiyun International Airport. The 70-year-old assemblyman allegedly had 6 pounds (3 kilograms) of illegal drugs into his possession when attempting to leave the country.
This is not the only big cocaine heist that made the headlines recently, French police seized 1.3 tonnes of pure cocaine on board of an Air France flight from Caracas, Venezuela in September. Officials estimated the value of the drugs from the undeclared suitcases to $270 (€200) million.
The US has its own drug heist of the year 2013, under the name of Eli Lilly drug heist, with an estimated value of $90 (€67) million worth of drugs stolen in multiple warehouse thefts.