A Good Samaritan recently discovered more than $1 million worth of cocaine floating in waters near the Florida Keys.
The incident was first reported by Thomas G. Martin, chief of the U.S. Border Patrol’s Miami Sector.
“Over the weekend, a Good Samaritan discovered over 1 million dollars in cocaine floating at sea near the Florida Keys,” Martin said tweeted Monday. “The package contained nearly 69 lbs. of cocaine.”
The Miami Herald reported that the drugs were found by a boater near the island of Islamorada in the upper Florida Keys. The boater alerted authorities after the discovery.
According to the tweet, the drugs were recovered by border agents, who received assistance from officials with the U.S. Coast Guard’s Southeast Division.
The Twitter post included a picture of the drugs found and appeared to show 25 different packages containing the cocaine.
This is not the first time a large number of narcotics have been found in the waters of the Florida Keys. In August, Martin shared a similar tweet showing packages carrying 65 pounds of cocaine that washed up on the beaches in the Florida Keys.
“Over the weekend, a Good Samaritan discovered 1.3 million dollars worth of cocaine washed-up along the shoreline in the Florida Keys. The large black package contained 65 lbs. of cocaine & was turned over to #BorderPatrol custody,” the tweet at the time read. More than 20 packages of cocaine can be seen in the picture that Martin shared
In March, another similar incident occurred when the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office in Florida was alerted to a “floating bale.”
“The Sheriff’s Office notified the U.S. Border Patrol who responded and found the bale contained 25 bricks of cocaine weighing 68 pounds,” the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office said that they reported the drugs to the Customs and Border Protection officers shortly after.
“On Wednesday, a Good Samaritan discovered 68 lbs. of cocaine valued at over 1.5 million dollars floating in the #FloridaKeys,” Martin wrote in a tweet in March. “The individual noticed a large black bundle wrapped in tape & contacted local authorities. The bag contained 25 bricks of cocaine.”
According to data from CBP, from January to September of this year, there have been over 700 drug seizure events by the agency’s air and marine operations.
Newsweek reached out to CBP for further comment on the most recent incident but did not receive a response in time for publication.
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