Security services in Misrata have seized over 50 kilograms of cocaine during a routine patrol on the coast.

The Joint Operations Force said its security patrol was on a routine mission on Wednesday roaming the valleys and coastal areas used by smuggling rings when they spotted suspicious parcels dumped on the coast some 70 kilometers east of Misrata.

The officers discovered white powder tightly wrapped in plastic materials soon after, the Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances Prosecution Office confirmed that the substance was pure cocaine powder, the Joint Operation Force said.

According to the statement, the load was the largest haul of cocaine seized in the country to date.

A security source from the Joint Operations Force told a local news outlet that a gang whose members are on the run are likely to have fled the scene leaving the drugs behind when the police arrived.