Boats were out in droves throughout the Upper Keys as divers and snorkelers hunted for lobsters during the final day of mini-season on Thursday.
One mariner, however, found something that didn’t quite resemble a crustacean.
According to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, a mariner roughly 5 miles south of Islamorada found some 23 kilograms of suspected cocaine floating in the ocean. The good Samaritan proceeded to contacted law enforcement to report the discovery.
The sheriff’s office ended up working alongside the U.S. Customs and Border Protection to bring the packages to shore. The packages were then turned over to federal law enforcement.
This certainly isn’t the first time drugs were found at sea or shore. On July 3, a package containing 1.3 kilograms of suspected cocaine was found near MM 79.5 in Islamorada on July 3. The package was turned over to U.S. Border Patrol.
At sea, U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Tahoma’s crew offloaded some 9,970 pounds of cocaine — worth $73 million — at Port Everglades on July 29. The seized drugs were the result of an interdiction on June 24, approximately 120 miles northwest of Ecuador by the crew of the Tahoma.
