A Florida boater made a surprising move after stumbling on a massive stash of suspected cocaine floating just five miles off Islamorada – handing it over to cops instead of fleeing or pocketing the loot.
The unidentified Good Samaritan spotted more than 20 tightly wrapped, black, brick-shaped packages drifting in the water on Thursday and immediately alerted authorities, according to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies, with help from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, swooped in and hauled the 50-pound stash ashore – a total of 23 kilos – suspected to be packed with cocaine.
Photos show the suspicious bricks bobbing in the turquoise waters before they were loaded onto law enforcement vessels. Testing is still underway, but officials believe the bundles are cocaine.
The haul has since been turned over to federal agents for further investigation.
It’s unclear whether the boater will receive a reward – or face any blowback – for getting involved.
Packages of cocaine that wash ashore in Florida aren’t just dangerous – they’re often marked with cartel symbols, making it clear they belong to someone you don’t want to cross, reports News 6.
And hanging onto them isn’t just risky – it’s illegal.
‘It should go without saying that retaining possession of (a washed-up block of drugs) is an incredibly bad idea…’ Florida law firm Perlet & Shiner told News 6. ‘If, for example, you intentionally retain possession of a block of drugs later valued at $100,000, you have committed grand theft in the first degree, which can carry up to 30 years in prison, plus significant fines.’
More than 20 black, brick-shaped packages suspected to contain cocaine were found drifting in the Caribbean Sea
The tightly wrapped bundles were spotted about five miles south of Islamorada in the Florida Keys
He’s not the only one to strike white gold. Just weeks ago, a beachgoer in the Panhandle found $500,000 worth of cocaine – part of a growing trend of drug bundles washing ashore along Florida’s coast.
Last year alone, authorities recovered over 180 pounds of cocaine across the state – from bricks floating near Key West to stashes buried in the sand in Volusia County.
Even massive bales of marijuana have been found on beaches in Palm Beach and Neptune Beach.
Experts say the phenomenon is tied to drug routes from South America, which produces about 90 percent of the cocaine consumed in North America, according to the United Nations.
Smugglers use boats and small planes to ferry drugs north – and when law enforcement gets too close, they often toss the cargo overboard to avoid arrest or arrange pickup later.
These floating bundles, dubbed ‘blow bales,’ can drift for miles, especially after storms churn the sea – just like Hurricane Debby did before last year’s $1 million stash surfaced in the Keys.
And it’s not just humans at risk. Scientists have warned that cocaine dumped in the ocean may be affecting Florida’s marine life – especially sharks, according to Live Science.
