[LAUREN TAYLOR]

FLORIDA’S SHORES HAVE BEEN PLAYING HOST TO SOME UNEXPECTED AND ILLEGAL VISITORS LATELY. IN THE LATEST INCIDENT — VACATIONERS IN THE FLORIDA KEYS STUMBLED UPON A PACKAGE CONTAINING 16 BRICKS OF SUSPECTED COCAINE — EACH BRICK WRAPPED IN BLUE TAPE AND ADORNED WITH A PICTURE OF A BEACH BUGGY.

THE TOURISTS — STAYING AT THE ISLANDS OF ISLAMORADA RESORT — HANDED OVER THEIR UNUSUAL FIND TO U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION FOR A CLOSER LOOK.

THIS DISCOVERY IS PART OF A BROADER TREND — WITH MULTIPLE INSTANCES OF COCAINE WASHING UP ON FLORIDA’S BEACHES THIS YEAR. EARLIER THIS MONTH — OVER 70 POUNDS OF COCAINE — WORTH AN ESTIMATED $1 MILLION — WERE FOUND IN THE FLORIDA KEYS AFTER HURRICANE DEBBY. SIMILARLY — A 56-POUND PACKAGE OF COCAINE — VALUED AT AROUND $625-THOUSAND — WAS FOUND FLOATING NEAR EVERGLADES CITY.

THE REPEATED DISCOVERY OF COCAINE ON FLORIDA BEACHES IS CLOSELY LINKED TO THE TACTICS OF DRUG TRAFFICKERS. THEY OFTEN DROP PACKAGES OF DRUGS INTO THE OCEAN TO AVOID DETECTION BY LAW ENFORCEMENT — WITH PLANS FOR THEM TO BE LATER RETRIEVED BY OTHER SMUGGLERS. HOWEVER — OCEAN CURRENTS — HURRICANES — OR TROPICAL STORMS CAN CAUSE THESE PACKAGES TO WASH ASHORE UNEXPECTEDLY.

IN SOME INSTANCES — TRAFFICKERS DROP DRUGS FROM PRIVATE AIRCRAFT TO SHIPS AT SEA — PROVIDING ANOTHER METHOD TO SMUGGLE GOODS INTO THE U.S. — PARTICULARLY IN FLORIDA — ACCORDING TO THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT.

THESE PACKAGES OFTEN ORIGINATE FROM COLOMBIA — WHICH SUPPLIES AROUND 90% OF THE COCAINE CONSUMED IN NORTH AMERICA — TYPICALLY SMUGGLED THROUGH THE CARIBBEAN SEA AND PACIFIC OCEAN.

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