Hundreds of opportunists flock to French beaches after 15-tonne cocaine spill off the coast sparks illegal treasure hunt

Published: 12:32 EDT, 30 October 2026 | Updated: 12:55 EDT, 30 October 2026 Opportunist crowds have flocked to beaches in France after 15 tonnes of cocaine were spilt along the coast. The illegal shipment, left along the picturesque Aquitaine coast, sparked a treasure hunt as hundreds of people on quad bikes and motorcycles turned up overnight with flashlights. Police officers have been intensely monitoring the 80km stretch of coast along the Gironde and Pyrénées-Atlantiques since Tuesday in an attempt to seize the cargo.Those looking to cash in on the hard substance have reportedly been searching for days. One group made a three-hour-long journey and stayed the night, desperately trying to get their hands on the cocaine.It is unclear where exactly the spill happened, but a drug deal in the Bay of Biscay between a ship and a boat had gone wrong, according to local news reports.Locals described the shipment as a treasure hunt - where the risk of prison time is outweighed by the promise of a better life funded by drug sales.One woman, named Leina, told French outlet RMC radio: 'I've been looking for four days, I've done almost the entire coast. Hundreds of opportunists have flocked to beaches across France after 15 tonnes of cocaine spilled off the coast'What motivates me is simply money. I can rebuild my life, buy a house, a car... I'm going to be 30, after a while you have to move forward.'It's not with €100 (£83) per day that I'm going to advance anywhere. So I'm looking for the treasure like everyone else.'Another man, identified as Guillaume, said: 'It's dangerous indeed, but life is hard, so it doesn't matter if we don't do things legally. What we want is just the money, to get by a little.'In France, the maximum penalty for unlawful transport, possession, acquisition, supply and use of narcotics is 10 years in prison and a €7.5million fine (£6.25million).News broadcaster TF1 captured a video of masked men hanging around the beaches of Biscarrosse, in Landes, but the group quickly fled when they saw drones above. Xavier Labrouche, the head of the Vieux-Boucau municipal police, told France 3 that they had noticed 'a rather unusual number of people out at night for this time of year'. Police said several people have been fined after trying to enter a military-controlled site in Landes.Beaches in Le Porge in the Gironde were indefinitely closed on Tuesday after CCTV cameras revealed '200 lamps' around the beach at night.So far, the drugs have not been found and investigators say they have not ruled out the possibility of false information.