Hurricane season has arrived in the Atlantic Ocean.
That means Florida residents are preparing for the worst.
And a Florida man made this scary discovery on a beach after a hurricane.
Cocaine washes up on shore in Florida after Hurricane Debby
Hurricane Debby made landfall in the Big Bend region on Florida’s Gulf Coast as a Category 1 Hurricane before it weakened to a tropical storm.
More than 200,000 people lost power during the event.
The storm downed trees with winds that reached up to 74 miles per hour and flooded streets in the Sunshine State.
It also made an unexpected delivery on a beach in the Florida Keys.
Seventy pounds of cocaine wrapped in 25 packages was found by a “good Samaritan” on the beach near Islamorada after the hurricane, who contacted the authorities.
The illegal narcotics, with an estimated street value of over one million dollars, were confiscated by the Border Patrol.
Samuel Briggs II, acting chief patrol agent for the Miami Sector, announced the unexpected find on social media.
“Hurricane Debby blew 25 packages of cocaine (70 lbs.) onto a beach in the Florida Keys. Good Samaritan discovered the drugs & contacted authorities. U.S. Border Patrol seized the drugs, which have a street value of over $1 million dollars,” Briggs wrote in a post on X.
Hurricane Debby blew 25 packages of cocaine (70 lbs.) onto a beach in the Florida Keys. Good Samaritan discovered the drugs & contacted authorities. U.S. Border Patrol seized the drugs, which have a street value of over $1 million dollars.#Hurricane #Debby #Florida #floridakeys pic.twitter.com/nsjKu6qm8V
— Samuel Briggs II (@USBPChiefMIP) August 5, 2024
Cocaine has washed up on Florida’s beaches before
Florida has long been a gateway to the United States for drug smugglers to bring cocaine from South America.
“Drug packages have appeared on Florida’s shores before. In 2019, a police department in Cocoa Beach warned the public to be cautious after a duffel bag stuffed with 15 kilograms, or about 33 pounds, of powdered cocaine washed up during Hurricane Dorian, according to Florida Today. Soon after, another kilogram of cocaine was found on a beach in Melbourne. And in 1996, dozens of cocaine packages that had been dropped or dumped by smugglers also swept ashore on two beaches,” the New York Times reported.
The tightly wrapped packages like those that Hurricane Debby blew in are designed to float in water and often have tracking devices so smugglers can find them.
Coast Guard officials named the square bricks of marijuana and cocaine that were thrown from planes and dropped from boats as “square groupers.”
Sometimes these packages of illegal drugs will get lost overboard by mistake.
A recreational boater found 65 pounds of cocaine floating in the waters outside of the Florida Keys in June.
Tampa Mayor Jane Castor (D) found 70 pounds of cocaine floating in the water off the Florida Keys last year.
“You know my family was concerned, like, ‘Oh my gosh, what if they think it’s ours,'” Castor told WTSP TV. “I’m like, come on. So, we pulled it up, and then as soon as we were in cellphone range just to call and notify them.”
A trip to the beach in Florida can bring a shocking find on the right day.
DeSantis Daily will keep you up-to-date on any new developments in this ongoing story.
