The mayor of the Florida city of Tampa found 70 pounds of cocaine worth $1.1 million while fishing with her family in the Keys archipelago, local media reported Wednesday.
Jane Castor was enjoying a day off the coast of Marathon on July 23 when a family member pointed out an oil slick in Atlantic waters.
At first he thought they were small fish grouped under some debris in the ocean.
But “as we got closer I was like, ‘oh, that’s a load of cocaine,'” Castor told Fox 13 news.
The mayor did not hesitate. His more than three decades with the Tampa Police Department, a police force he led for six years, enabled him to accurately identify the drug cache.
Over the weekend, Border Patrol agents in the Miami Sector seized 70 pounds. of cocaine discovered by a recreational boater in #Florida keys. The drugs have an estimated street value of approximately $1.1 million dollars. #miami #Florida #drug addiction #Monday morning pic.twitter.com/etaiuwXrcK
— Chief Patrol Agent Walter N. Slosar (@USBPChiefMIP) July 24, 2023
The family loaded the microwave-sized package onto the boat. Under layers of plastic wrap were tight bales.
Castor saved the find’s location on his watch and called the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.
The US Border Patrol took over the shipment shortly afterwards.
On July 24, the head of that agency in the Miami sector, Walter N. Slosar, announced this operation on the social network X (formerly Twitter), attributing the discovery to an “amateur surfer.”
Along with a post about the seizure of 70 pounds of cocaine, worth about $1.1 million, Slosar posted a photo showing the stash: 25 bales each covered with a drawing of a butterfly.
Source: Eluniverso

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