Law Enforcement
Florida Keys sunbather notifies U.S. Border Patrol of million dollar cocaine bale washed ashore
A Florida Keys sunbather notified the authorities they discovered a package of cocaine washed ashore
May 9, 2024 10:47am
Updated: May 10, 2024 7:28am
Late Wednesday night, a 65 pound bale of cocaine was found washed up on a beach in the Florida Keys. The warning came from a sunbather who notified local authorities, who quickly dispatched officers to the beach to investigate. After a closer look, the U.S. Border Patrol in the Miami sector said the package was valued at approximately one million dollars.
Shortly after the Border Patrol removed the cocaine bale from the beach, the government agency circulated images of the product to the media. A plastic bag tied with ropes with the drug bricks is shown in photographs released by the government.
The discovery is not an isolated incident as more and more bundles of cocaine and drugs have been discovered on the coasts and beaches of Florida. Many of the discoveries have been due to reports from beachgoers.
Some of the drugs are found frequently in the Keys, which are located in the extreme south of the state in the Straits of Florida and others have been recovered on South Florida beaches north of Miami as far as Palm Beach County.
Last August, the Tampa Mayor Jane Castor personally found 70 pounds of cocaine floating in the sea when she was enjoying a day of fishing with her family.
Castor, who served as a police officer for 30 years before becoming mayor was near Marathon Key, one of the islands in the Florida Keys, when she and those close to her saw a black spot that they thought was a school of fish.
Instead, the school of fish turned out to be a plastic bundle with cocaine “bricks” of cocaine inside of it.
Last October, 67 pounds of cocaine were also found in bales on a Daytona Beach shoreline, in Volusia County, which is located on the east coast of Florida, and commonly known as a popular spring break destination.
So far, no arrests have been reported, and the origin of the seized packages has not been determined. Authorities are expected to carry out a preliminary investigation before offering more details about the event.
