Recreational boaters off the coast of the Florida Keys recently found 65 pounds of cocaine floating in the ocean, authorities said this week, marking another discovery of drugs on US waters and shores.
Samuel Briggs II, the chief patrol agent for the US Border Patrol, said the cocaine has an estimated street value of more than $1 million. Briggs posted a video on social media Monday night showing the wrapped packages of cocaine being taken away in a cart.
In a separate post on social media, the Monroe County Sheriff's Office said that “sailors on a private vessel found a package containing approximately 21 kilograms of individually wrapped cocaine.” Officials said the drug, which was found Saturday in the water about 7 miles off Islamorada, Fla., was turned over to U.S. Border Patrol agents.
A photograph released by the sheriff's office showed a package of the suspected cocaine emblazoned with the image of a bald eagle.
Monroe County Sheriff's Office
Earlier this month, divers found 25 kilos of cocaine about 100 feet underwater off Key West. Images released by the sheriff's office showed packages marked “Nike SB,” with imitations of the shoe brand's iconic logo on the front. The next day, the same amount of suspected cocaine was found and washed away Dauphin Island, Alabama.
Last month, a beachgoer found about $1 million worth of cocaine washed up in the Florida Keys, CBS News Miami reported. US Border Patrol agents said the package contained 65 pounds of cocaine.
Drug traffickers routinely transport cocaine across the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico in a variety of vessels, and the packages are sometimes marked with distinctive designs.
In January, the Colombian Navy seized a so-called narco sub loaded with more than 1,000 pounds of cocaine into the Pacific Ocean, and many of the packages featured a insignia of a scorpion.
By 2023, packages of cocaine worth more than $100,000 washed on several beaches in Florida. Each package was marked with a different design, including one that appeared to mimic the Chanel logo.
Also last year, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor, while on a fishing trip with her family, wrapped in 70 pounds of cocaine. Those narcotic bricks were adorned with butterfly designs.
Colombia produces around 60% of the cocaine found in the world.
