PACKS of cocaine washed up on beaches have been pinched before cops could get to them — in a Whisky Galore! slip-up.

A litter-picker in his 60s is suspected of walking off with one bag of the class A drug.

Police believe other packets have been swiped in an echo of the plot of 1949 movie Whisky Galore! in which islanders keep 50,000 bottles from a shipwreck.

A source said: “Some of the drugs were taken from the beach before police arrived.

“The cocaine is of a very high purity and would be worth a fortune once cut and sold on the streets.”

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The drugs are believed to have been smuggled from South America but were lost in the Channel and have drifted along the South Coast.

Police had been aware of the cellophane-wrapped packages since last Monday — but they have started washing up in Dorset and the Isle of Wight.

They were first alerted by a fisherman but kept it secret to avoid people trying to find the illegal drugs, potentially worth millions.

A group of litter-pickers in the Isle of Wight found some on Saturday — but police believe not all have been declared.

Asst Chief Constable Stuart Murray, of Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary, said: “There is a member of the litter picking group, a man in his 60s, who we want to make contact with.”