<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"\"&lt;p&gt;As reported on &lt;a href=\\\"http:\\/\\/www.nctimes.com\\/articles\\/2008\\/06\\/04\\/news\\/coastal\\/del_mar\\/zde9c1c493cc022738825745e00784c5e.txt\\\"&gt;NCTimes.com&lt;\\/a&gt; by Sarah Gordon.\\n&lt;p&gt;DEL MAR &amp;#8212;- Someone ditched more than 70 pounds of packaged marijuana on the beach early Wednesday, possibly a maritime smuggler, authorities said.&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;Just before hitting the waves near 11th Street about 4:15 a.m., a surfer noticed something on the rocks, Sheriff&amp;#8217;s Department Sgt. Marcos Ramirez said in a written statement.&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;The man surfed for a couple of hours before investigating what turned out to be a tarp covering a burlap sack full of marijuana bundles.&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;The surfer immediately called the Sheriff&amp;#8217;s Department, Ramirez said.&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;Deputies removed the 1-kilogram bundles from the rocks and found a second stash in a trash can in the parking lot.&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;Depending on its quality, the 71 1\\/2 pounds of pot have a street value between $22,000 and $220,000, Drug Enforcement Administration spokeswoman Eileen Zeidler in San Diego said.&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;Witnesses told deputies they had seen a small boat on the beach just before 3 a.m.&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;It is not clear if the Sheriff&amp;#8217;s Department believes the drugs were smuggled from Mexico.&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;So far, the department has contacted neither the DEA nor Immigration and Customs Enforcement for assistance, spokeswomen for both agencies said.&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;Lauren Mack, spokeswoman for ICE, said that if the drugs were smuggled from Mexico and left for pickup in Del Mar, it would be an unusual drug deal.&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;&amp;#8220;I&amp;#8217;m not aware of an incident similar to that here,&amp;#8221; she said.&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;However, authorities have noticed a recent surge in smuggling boats from Mexico here, she said.&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;So far this year, federal agents have intercepted or found abandoned 17 boats from Mexico in San Diego County, compared with 10 all last year, Mack said.&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;Most of the boats involved human smuggling, she said.&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;In early April, a Mexican boat believed to be used for smuggling narcotics washed up on Torrey Pines State Beach, Mack said.&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;Later that month, a damaged boat with 20 bales of pot inside was ditched in Ocean Beach in San Diego.&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;Mack said the number of boats coming ashore in North County had been increasing in recent months, but that she wasn&amp;#8217;t sure why.&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;Lost or inexperienced boaters may be at the helm, she said.&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;Zeidler, the DEA spokeswoman, said that the beefed-up Border Patrol had probably forced smugglers from Mexico to take to the sea.&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n\""^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.grindtv.com/surf/over-70-pounds-of-marijuana-found-on-beach-in-del-mar/>