Hurricane Debby's dark secret: Storm floats cocaine stash worth over $1.6mn to Florida beaches

Hurricane Debby, which recently left behind a trail of deadly destruction in Southeast Florida, also brought with it more than 100 pounds (45.36 kg) of cocaine.

In two separate incidents, police have discovered massive amounts of narcotics along Florida's coast.

Cocaine stashes and storm Debby

On August 4, 25 packages of cocaine were found washed up on an Islamorada beach in the Florida Keys, about 80 miles (128.75 kilometres) from Key West. A Good Samaritan, who stumbled upon these packages, alerted authorities. The haul, weighing approximately 70 pounds (31.75 kilogrammes), is estimated to have a street value of over $1 million, as reported by the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in Miami.

Acting Chief Patrol Agent Samuel Briggs posted photos of the seized drugs on the social media platform 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

Just a week later, another large batch of cocaine was discovered. On Monday (Aug12), the Collier County Sheriff's Office reported finding cocaine with a street value of $625,000 floating near Everglades City in the Gulf of Mexico.

Boaters came across 56 pounds (25.4 kg) of cocaine, packed in a container roughly the size of a microwave oven, floating in the mangroves off Panther Key.

On Facebook, in a post, the Sherrif's office's Sheriff Kevin Rambosk said, "We appreciate the help of Good Samaritans in our community who saw something unusual and contacted law enforcement."

The package, covered in barnacles, had been adrift for some time. Collier County authorities remarked that such discoveries were "reminiscent of the 'square grouper' marijuana smuggling days in Collier County during the 1970s and 1980s, but uncommon for today."

The term "square grouper" refers to bales of marijuana wrapped in plastic, giving them a square appearance.

Currently, detectives in Collier County are investigating fromwhere these drugs originated. They believe the cocaine "most likely washed in with the tides from the East Coast due to recent storms".

Townsend noted that drug smugglers often "intentionally drop" dump their cargo into the sea "at predetermined locations for later retrieval by other smugglers".

(With inputs from agencies)