Hurricane Debby blew 56 pounds of cocaine into the mangroves of Panther Key, located between Marco Island and Chokoloskee, about one week after Hurricane Debby made its August 4 landfall in Florida. The tropical storm led to the discovery made by boaters, announced the Collier County Sheriff’s Office on August 12.
CCSO estimated the package contained more than a million dollars’ worth of cocaine. Boaters found it floating in the Gulf of Mexico near Everglades City on August 12.
“We appreciate the help of Good Samaritans in our community who saw something unusual and contacted law enforcement,” said Sheriff Kevin Rambosk.
Boaters found the cocaine in the mangroves off Panther Key near Port of the Islands.
"The package, about the size of a microwave oven, contained 25 individually wrapped kilograms of cocaine,” CCSO announced in a social media post.
Law enforcement estimated the cocaine has a street value of $625,000.
"The bundle was covered in barnacles, an indicator the package had been in the water for a while," the Sheriff’s Office announced.
CCSO described the find as reminiscent of the “square grouper” marijuana smuggling days in Collier County during the 1970s and 1980s.
CCSO detectives are working to determine the cocaine’s origin. Detectives said the cocaine most likely washed in with the tides from the east coast due to recent storms.
This cocaine discovered in Collier County comes one week after an estimated $1 million in cocaine was discovered in Islamorada of the Florida Keys - also suspected to be blown by Debby, according to law enforcement. Islamorada is located about 80 miles northeast of Key West.
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