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Cocaine bricks wash up on Florida beach — yet again
A package containing 16 bricks of suspected cocaine was found on a beach in the Florida Keys by tourists, authorities revealed this week, marking yet another discovery of the drug on the state’s shores.
The package, which was found by guests of the Islands of Islamorada resort late Sunday morning, was turned over to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, as is standard procedure, according to a statement from the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office. Authorities did not specify how much the drugs weighed.
The sheriff’s office also released a photo of the cocaine, showing a package wrapped and taped with a picture featuring what looks like a dune buggy.
Monroe County Sheriff’s Office
Cocaine has been found at least five other times on or near the shores of Florida this year.
Earlier this month, authorities said that Hurricane Debby blew 25 packages of cocaine onto a beach in the Florida Keys. The U.S. Border Patrol said at the time that the drugs, which weighed about 70 pounds and worth over $1 million, was found by a good Samaritan.
In June, boaters off the coast of the Florida Keys found 65 pounds of cocaine floating in the ocean, and earlier that month, divers found 25 kilograms of cocaine about 100 feet underwater off Key West. The next day, 25 kilos of cocaine was found washed up on Dauphin Island, Alabama.
In May, a beachgoer found about $1 million worth of cocaine washed up along the Florida Keys, CBS News Miami reported.
In 2023, packages of cocaine worth more than $100,000 washed up on several Florida beaches. Also last year, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor, while on a fishing trip with her family, reeled in 70 pounds of cocaine.
About 90% of cocaine consumed in North America comes from Colombia, according to researchers at the United Nations. Traffickers often try to smuggle the drugs over the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean with speedboats and semi-submersible vessels, which are also known as narco subs.
Sometimes, traffickers will dump the drugs into the water to evade detection by law enforcement or to be picked up by fellow smugglers. As Scientific American notes, cocaine dropped in the ocean can end up on shores after they are carried by currents or storms.
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A person in Louisiana has the first severe illness caused by bird flu in the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Wednesday.
Officials determined the patient had exposure to sick and dead birds in backyard flocks, though an investigation into the source of the infection in the state is ongoing. This is also the first case of H5N1 bird flu in the U.S. that has been linked to exposure to a backyard flock, a news release noted. Officials have not shared details on the patient’s symptoms.
The case was first confirmed by health officials Friday, adding to the total of 61 reported human cases of H5 bird flu reported in the United States. Another severe case of H5N1 has been reported in a teen in British Columbia.
A release from the Louisiana Department of Health Wednesday added the patient, a resident of southwestern Louisiana, is currently hospitalized. Until now, the H5N1 cases in the U.S. have been mild, including conjunctivitis and upper respiratory symptoms.
“While the current public health risk for the general public is low, people who work with birds, poultry or cows, or have recreational exposure to them, are at higher risk,” the state’s health department added.
Mild illnesses have been seen in dairy and poultry workers who had close contact with infected animals. In two cases, no known source of the illnesses have been identified, which has worried infectious disease experts about the possibility of human-to-human transmission, which could trigger a pandemic.
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Houston father desperate for help after wife recovering from C-section, kids deported to Mexico
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