Salvage
If you were to find a tightly wrapped package ensconced in plastic, bobbing in the tranquil waters of the beach you chose to cool off, what would you do? First of all, would you recognize it for what it was? Would you take it home?
It seems most of the bathers at the beach of Pedregalejo, in the province of Málaga, knew exactly what they were dealing with. Literally. The life guard noticed an opened package bobbing in the water and tried to pull it in onto the sand. Someone near him saw what it was and the life guard was elbowed out. He was told to get out of the way to stay safe. Tens of people were reaching into the package, pulling out small, hard, squares that were tightly wrapped in plastic. Some filled their small coolers. One woman wrapped several in a t-shirt and left with it, only to come back in a little while wearing a different t-shirt. As many packets as possible were pulled out and spirited away. By the time the police appeared, alerted by the life guard, there was only five hundred grams left of the over thirty kilos of hashish the package originally carried. The police started checking coolers and a couple of cars, but the nimble bathers had flown the coop.
The south coast of Spain is sometimes used for all kinds of smuggling from northern Africa, from people to drugs. Sometimes, packages will be anchored in the water to escape detection. Other times some might fall off. Occasionally, they'll wash up on beaches or coves. Generally, the police are always called in and recover them. In certain depressed coastal areas, many unemployed young people are actually involved in the end part of the smuggling, helping to unload speedboats at a speed stevedores can only marvel at. They get paid well to help, and know what they're unloading. They're no innocents; they're simply young people with little to look forward to in their economic futures that do what they can to earn some money.
I don't know if the people at that beach are involved in such business, but I assume some of them know exactly whom to call and how much to ask for what they harvested from the sea. The rest will probably make inquiries, quietly, of course. A few might create beautiful visions in the privacy of their homes. Whatever the case, finders keepers.
It seems most of the bathers at the beach of Pedregalejo, in the province of Málaga, knew exactly what they were dealing with. Literally. The life guard noticed an opened package bobbing in the water and tried to pull it in onto the sand. Someone near him saw what it was and the life guard was elbowed out. He was told to get out of the way to stay safe. Tens of people were reaching into the package, pulling out small, hard, squares that were tightly wrapped in plastic. Some filled their small coolers. One woman wrapped several in a t-shirt and left with it, only to come back in a little while wearing a different t-shirt. As many packets as possible were pulled out and spirited away. By the time the police appeared, alerted by the life guard, there was only five hundred grams left of the over thirty kilos of hashish the package originally carried. The police started checking coolers and a couple of cars, but the nimble bathers had flown the coop.
The south coast of Spain is sometimes used for all kinds of smuggling from northern Africa, from people to drugs. Sometimes, packages will be anchored in the water to escape detection. Other times some might fall off. Occasionally, they'll wash up on beaches or coves. Generally, the police are always called in and recover them. In certain depressed coastal areas, many unemployed young people are actually involved in the end part of the smuggling, helping to unload speedboats at a speed stevedores can only marvel at. They get paid well to help, and know what they're unloading. They're no innocents; they're simply young people with little to look forward to in their economic futures that do what they can to earn some money.
I don't know if the people at that beach are involved in such business, but I assume some of them know exactly whom to call and how much to ask for what they harvested from the sea. The rest will probably make inquiries, quietly, of course. A few might create beautiful visions in the privacy of their homes. Whatever the case, finders keepers.
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