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sl8

(16,245 posts)
Thu Aug 29, 2024, 06:57 AM Aug 29

Bricks of cocaine washed up on a Florida beach. Here's why it keeps happening

https://www.npr.org/2024/08/28/nx-s1-5092147/cocaine-wash-up-florida-beach-drugs

Bricks of cocaine washed up on a Florida beach. Here's why it keeps happening

AUGUST 29, 2024 5:02 AM ET
Jonathan Franklin

[...]

In a Facebook post, the Monroe County, Fla., Sheriff’s Office said the package was discovered Sunday by guests of the Islands of Islamorada resort, a resort nearly 80 miles outside Miami. The package, wrapped in blue tape with a photo of a beach buggy on the front, was turned over to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection for further inspection.

It is unclear what the estimated street value of the suspected drugs is or if there were additional drugs that were discovered along the beach by authorities.

[...]

Earlier this month, more than 100 pounds of cocaine worth $1 million washed up on a beach in the Florida Keys in the aftermath of Hurricane Debby. The U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) in Miami reported that the storm blew ashore 25 packages of cocaine totaling up to 70 pounds onto a beach in the Florida Keys.

[...]

Why does this keep happening?

Cocaine that is dropped in the ocean by drug traffickers can often be washed ashore, thanks to currents, hurricanes or tropical storms, a 2023 report by Scientific American said.

Drug traffickers also sometimes drop drugs from private aircraft to ships at sea, which is another way to get drugs into the U.S. and in states like Florida, according to the Justice Department.

[...]

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