On 9/30/13 at approximately 11:00 am, Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Deputies, State Parks, California Highway Patrol, and Coast Guard received information that a boat was in distress and had capsized in the area of 4 Mile Beach in Santa Cruz. Responders arrived on scene and located an approximately 20 foot boat which had capsized and brought it ashore. During the search of the area for occupants of the boat, Deputies found four 20 pound packages of marijuana and six 12 gallon gas containers. An unknown amount of the gas which was spilled from the containers was later evaluated by Coast Guard for ecological concerns.
Detectives believe that the boat had originally departed from Mexico with a full load of marijuana. Additionally, it is believed the boat arrived early on the morning of 9/30/13 and had delivered a majority of its marijuana before the boat capsized, forcing unknown suspects to abandon approximately 80 pounds of marijuana. No suspects have been identified at this time.