Recreational boaters find cocaine worth $1 million, decorated with Bald Eagle
Recreational boaters in Florida Keys have hauled in $1 million worth of cocaine after finding it about about seven miles off Islamorada.
It’s not the first time that boaters have brought home mega drug hauls in the area. In august last year, Tampa’s mayor collected 70 pounds of cocaine wrapped in cellophane, valued at $1.1 million, which she’d found adrift on the Atlantic Ocean while out on her boat.
The latest eagle haul came in ‘approximately 21 individually wrapped kilograms of suspected cocaine’ according to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office. That equates to 65 pounds of narcotics.
Samuel Briggs II, the acting chief patrol agent of the U.S. Border Patrol, wrote about the find in a social media post on X (formerly known as Twitter). Briggs posted a video which shows the wrapped packages being wheeled on a cart.
Recreational boater in the Florida Keys discovers 65 lbs. of cocaine floating at sea. The cocaine has an estimated street value of over $1 million & will be seized by the U.S. #BorderPatrol. We appreciate the support from Good Samaritan’s in our community.#floridakeys #drugs pic.twitter.com/g2hQYhLATG
— Samuel Briggs II (@USBPChiefMIP) June 18, 2024
“We appreciate the support from good samaritans in our community,” says Briggs.
According to 24 News more drugs have since been found in the Florida Keys, by a person picking up litter on the beach.
And earlier in June this year, offshore scuba divers in the area grabbed 25 kilos of cocaine. These ones were decorated with a Nike logo. The divers, who were in about 100 feet of water, initially thought that it was litter.
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office turns over narcotics to the U.S. Border Patrol.
Drugs are found at sea worldwide. In February 2023, New Zealand’s navy intercepted a record-breaking haul of cocaine floating in international waters in the Pacific Ocean.
That had an estimated worth of NZ$500m (US$315m, AU$456m) and came in 81 bales, many labelled with a Batman symbol.
Others were decorated with a picture of a black four-leaf clover. These symbols are considered ‘trademark logos’ for the drug producers, who New Zealand officials believe to be in South America.
Continue reading about other drugs found at sea.
Florida drugs’ haul images courtesy of Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, Batman and clover images courtesy of New Zealand police and New Zealand Defence Force.
The post Recreational boaters find cocaine worth $1 million, decorated with Bald Eagle appeared first on Marine Industry News.
