A diver looking for lobster in the Florida Keys Wednesday discovered a brick of suspected cocaine instead, authorities said.
The substance was discovered about a mile offshore of Tavernier on the oceanside, Monroe County Sheriff’s Office officials said in a statement.
The sheriff’s office later released a picture of the package discovered by the diver. It featured a yellow rabbit logo in the style of a skull and crossbones and the word “Bunny” written underneath.
Suspected drugs found by lobster hunter https://t.co/KEEStUCCvv pic.twitter.com/8fxMvotFO3
— Florida Keys Sheriff (@keyssheriff) July 24, 2024
Monroe County Sheriff’s Office said the package was handed to U.S. Border Patrol.
The discovery was made during Florida’s lobster mini-season, which lasts just two days, July 24 and 25. With it come some risks for divers in the Keys, according to the Sheriff’s office release.
Hours before the package was found, a diver was flown to a Miami hospital after a boat propeller struck him while diving for a lobster. Another four people had to be rescued from a boat that was taking on water; there were no reported injuries.
“Overall, Wednesday was a typical day for the Sheriff’s Office during mini season,” the press release read.
Finding cocaine in the ocean near Florida is not that rare.
In June, boaters discovered $1 million worth of cocaine off the coast of the Florida Keys, The Guardian reported. The package contained about 61 pounds of the substance.
Photos and videos posted online showed the cocaine packages wrapped in clear plastic and adorned with images of flying bald eagles.
Samuel Briggs II, the U.S. Border Patrol acting chief of the Miami sector, confirmed on social media that Border Patrol agents would seize the cocaine. “We appreciate the support from Good Samaritans in our community,” Briggs II wrote.
A few weeks prior, a group of scuba divers found 25 individually wrapped parcels in about 100 feet of water in the Atlantic Ocean in Key Largo where they were cleaning the water. Initially, they thought it was a bag of trash, but upon closer inspection determined they looked suspicious and contacted the sheriff’s office, which suspected they contained cocaine, the Daily Mail reported.
At the beginning of May, a beachgoer found $1 million worth of cocaine washed ashore along Florida Keys. U.S. Border Patrol agents seized the package, which contained 65 pounds of cocaine, CBS reported.
It is believed that large quantities of narcotics enter the U.S. illegally via Florida, and many packages are lost or tossed in the ocean by traffickers worried about law enforcement detection.
It has led to concerns that sharks may be inadvertently ingesting the drugs, a marine expert previously told Newsweek.
Do you have a story we should be covering? Do you have any questions about this article? Contact LiveNews@newsweek.com.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
