Snorkeller finds $1.5m of cocaine floating off the coast of Florida
Bundle contained 25 bricks of cocaine weighing 68 pounds, authorities say
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Your support makes all the difference.A snorkeller in Florida unwittingly uncovered $1.5m (£1.3m) worth of cocaine while swimming in waters off the Florida Keys and turned it in to authorities, police have revealed.
Monroe County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement on Thursday that a snorkeller near Craig Key, an island city in the middle Florida Keys, reported finding a floating bale on Wednesday afternoon.
The office said they were alerted to the find at 1.50pm and notified US Border Patrol who responded and found the bundle contained 25 bricks of cocaine weighing 68 pounds.
According to the sheriff’s office, US Border Patrol valued the drugs at more than $1.5 million.
A Twitter account attributed to Chief Patrol Agent Thomas G Martin tweeted a photo of the recovered bricks on Thursday.
The account described the snorkeller who recovered the bale as a “good Samaritan”.
“The individual noticed a large black bundle wrapped in tape & contacted local authorities,” the tweet reads. “The bag contained 25 bricks of cocaine.”
Neither the sheriff’s office nor US border control commented on a possible source of the drugs.
While the size of the find appeared shocking, it seems that the waters are no stranger to such discoveries, with the sheriff and news outlets often reporting similar bundles.
The Chief Patrol Agent’s account tweeted on 25 February that some other “good Samaritans” discovered two suspicious packages along the coastline on Ocean Boulevard in Palm Beach, Florida with 5 pounds of cocaine.
“A third package was located with 11 pounds of marijuana inside,” the post said, adding that BorderPatrol Agents seized the drugs and Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office assisted.
The Miami Herald reported in September last year that almost 150 pounds of marijuana were found either floating off the Florida Keys or washed up onshore since August the same year.
Only a month before that, someone found more than 50 pounds of cocaine washed up on the coast near Grassy Key in the Middle Keys, the newspaper said.
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