LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines — Fishermen fished out cocaine bricks valued at P5.4 million in the waters off Vinzons town in Camarines Norte on Sunday, reports reaching Camp General Simeon Ola showed.

Chief Inspector Malou Calubaquib, Bicol police spokesperson, said Alfredo Vega, 61, and his son Alredo Jr. found the cocaine bricks, which were wrapped in plastic, floating near an islet in Barangay Sula.

The fishermen turned over the pack to a certain Rose Marie Abogado, who brought it to the police.

Examination by the Camarines Norte provincial crime laboratory confirmed that the pack contained high-grade cocaine weighing 1,026.19 grams.

More than 20 kilos of cocaine bricks were recovered in the waters off Tiwi, Albay as well as in Sorsogon and Camarines Norte in the past two years.

Police said the illegal drugs could have been dumped in the high seas for pickup by local drug dealers. – Emmanuel Tupas