Barnacle-covered cocaine package worth $625,000 spotted by boaters in Florida after storms

By Aliza Chasan

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    FLORIDA (WFOR) — Boaters in southwest Florida spotted $625,000 worth of cocaine floating in the Gulf of Mexico, officials said Monday, just days after packages of the drug were found on one of the state’s beaches.

The 56 pounds of drugs were found in a barnacle-covered package, which means it had been in the water for a while, the Collier County Sheriff’s Office said in a social media post. Detectives believe the cocaine washed in with the tides due to recent storms.

Last week, U.S. Border Patrol officials said Hurricane Debby blew cocaine worth over $1 million onto a beach in the Florida Keys.

“Large packages of drugs ranging from marijuana to hashish to cocaine have been discovered floating in the waters off Miami and the Florida Keys,” the Collier County Sheriff’s Office said in its announcement.

The cocaine found in the Gulf of Mexico was spotted floating in mangroves off Panther Key near Everglades City, officials said, adding that it was “about the size of a microwave” and held 25 individually wrapped kilograms of cocaine.

Good Samaritans contacted authorities after seeing the package, the sheriff’s office said. Detectives are working to figure out where the cocaine came from.

While marijuana smuggling was common in Collier County during the 1970s and 1980s, officials said the recent find was “uncommon for today.” Cocaine has been found on numerous occasions on and near Florida’s shores.

In June, officials said boaters found cocaine with a street value of over $1 million floating at sea off the Florida Keys. That same month, officials said divers off of Key West found 25 bricks of suspected cocaine marked with fake Nike logos.

Scientists last year said sharks may even be exposed to drugs in the Florida Keys. Researchers dropped bales of fake cocaine into the water and observed sharks swimming toward them.

Also last year, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor, found 70 pounds of cocaine while on a fishing trip with her family.

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