In Pescadero, California Monday morning, Sheriff's deputies found a panga boat and a Chevrolet SUV abandoned on a state beach. Both were loaded with an unspecified but "large quantity" of marijuana. Update: the Examiner reports it was about 1,050 pounds of marijuana.

The vehicles were spotted by a concerned citizen, who saw something and then said something to the San Mateo County Sheriff's Department. Deputies arrived on the scene around 8 a.m. Monday, at which point the owners of the aforementioned weed were long gone. No one was arrested and the case has since been handed over to the Department of Homeland Security, but it is only the most recent instance of drug runners littering Northern California beaches with their abandon panga boats and marijuana stashes.

Last month, a similar panga boat — a type preferred by drug runners and pirates — washed up nearby on Pigeon Cove in Pescadero. A Coast Guard search found nothing in that case, but it prompted Coast Guard Captain Greg Stump to decry the smuggling activity because it "threatens the safety of law-abiding citizens at sea and ashore."

Back in October of last year, a similar panga boat capsized farther south near Santa Cruz carrying $96,000 worth of weed. In that incident, local surfers were ecstatic about the smuggling mishap, but not for the reason you might think— the lineup was empty while authorities searched the beaches for suspects.

Finally, last Summer four men were busted on Bonny Doon Beach with $2.1 million worth of marijuana when a lifeguard spotted them acting sketchy in the surf. (A total teen move.)

Previously: Weed-Running Boat Capsizes Near Santa Cruz, Surfers Stoked
[NBC Bay Area]
[SFEx]