A flotilla of illicit inner tubes on the Outer Banks

On this day in 1979: “Dare County deputies collected more than two dozen inner tubes filled with between 700 and 1,000 pounds of the drug hashish along area beaches. While the source of the inner tubes was unknown, Drug Enforcement Administration officials estimated the value of the substance at $1,600 a pound…

“Over a three-day period, civilian boaters, a research vessel and law enforcement helicopters aided in the roundup. It was thought to be the largest confiscation of hashish in North Carolina.”

— From “On This Day in Outer Banks History” by Sarah Downing (2014)

Must’ve been quite a scene — especially those helpful “civilian boaters.”