Additional Coverage:
- Cocaine bricks wash up on Florida beach — yet again (newsbreak.com)
Authorities have announced the discovery of a package containing 16 bricks of suspected cocaine on a Florida Keys beach, found by tourists visiting the Islands of Islamorada resort. The package was handed over to the U.S.
Customs and Border Protection, following standard protocol, according to a Monroe County Sheriff’s Office statement. While the total weight of the drugs was not disclosed, a released photo shows the package, distinctively wrapped and taped with an image of a dune buggy.
This find adds to a series of similar incidents across Florida this year. For instance, earlier this month, Hurricane Debby was credited with washing up 25 packages of cocaine, totaling about 70 pounds and worth over $1 million, onto another Florida Keys beach.
This discovery was made by a good Samaritan. Additionally, in June, 65 pounds of cocaine were spotted floating in the ocean by boaters, while divers found 25 kilograms of the drug submerged off Key West.
Previous reports also highlighted a case in May where an individual stumbled upon cocaine worth approximately $1 million on the shore of the Florida Keys, as reported by CBS News Miami. Throughout 2023, Florida beaches have seen numerous packages of cocaine valued over $100,000 washed ashore. Last year, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor, on a family fishing trip, accidentally reeled in a substantial 70-pound haul of the drug.
It is widely understood that about 90% of cocaine consumed in North America originates from Colombia, as per United Nations researchers. Drug traffickers typically transport these narcotics across the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean using speedboats and semi-submersible vessels, commonly referred to as narco subs.
Traffickers occasionally dump their cargo overboard to avoid detection by authorities or for retrieval by other smugglers. Scientific American has pointed out that such discarded cocaine can be swept to shorelines by ocean currents or in the wake of storms.
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- Cocaine bricks wash up on Florida beach — yet again (newsbreak.com)