POLICE have thanked the public after a significant quantity of drugs washed up on an Aberystwyth beach on Saturday morning.

Around 30 bags, believed to be full of cocaine, tied to a string of makeshift buoys were discovered by a dog walker on Tanybwlch beach, south of Aberystwyth, early on Saturday morning.

A spokesperson for the police confirmed this afternoon: “Dyfed-Powys Police is investigating the discovery of a significant quantity of what is thought to be cocaine, spotted along the Ceredigion coast this weekend.

“Enquiries are being undertaken to establish how such an unusually large amount of the controlled drug came to wash up on the Welsh shore, following recent storms.

“The precise quantity is still being established and at this time no one has been arrested in relation to this matter.

“Officers have thanked those who found the packages and their sensible actions in reporting the matter immediately.”

Residents also reported seeing a small plane circling the bay during the find as officers headed to the scene.

The Mail on Sunday quoted the unnamed dog walker who found the package, saying: “I was out for my early morning walk when I saw something on the beach.

“I was intrigued and walked up to it and knew what it was almost straight away.

“An old lady called the police and they came around half an hour later. They cut open a bag and it looked like pure cocaine. They dragged it off the beach and took it away.”

The newspaper adds that if the packages are full of cocaine, the haul is worth around £90 million.