Hurricane Debby inadvertently contributed to a significant drug bust when it washed ashore 25 packages of cocaine on a beach in the Florida Keys. An estimated 70 pounds of the drug, valued at around $1 million, was seized by U.S. Border Patrol after a Good Samaritan discovered the packages and alerted authorities.
The cocaine was found wrapped inside a trash bag among debris, including seaweed, that the storm had washed up onto the beach. Each package bore a distinct bright red symbol. U.S. Border Patrol Acting Chief Patrol Agent Samuel Briggs II shared the news on social media, praising the Good Samaritan for their role in reporting the find.
This incident follows a larger drug seizure earlier in June, where a joint operation between the U.S. Coast Guard and the Royal Netherlands Navy recovered 4,800 pounds of cocaine worth over $63 million from a vessel at a Florida port. That operation included actions off the coast of Venezuela and involved engaging a high-speed vessel suspected of smuggling narcotics. When the vessel refused to stop, Dutch and U.S. Coast Guard personnel opened fire in self-defense, causing the boat to catch fire and sink. A search for the three suspected smugglers who went overboard was eventually suspended.
The drug seizure comes in the wake of Hurricane Debby causing destruction across the Gulf Coast, resulting in at least five fatalities, including a 13-year-old boy and a man in Moultrie, Georgia, due to falling trees.
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