The New York Times published a feature today headlined "In the Florida Keys, Floating Cocaine Remains an Alluring Catch," about a strange phenomenon that repeats year after year: packages of cocaine lost by traffickers keep turning up on the water, in the mangroves, and on the beaches of the Florida Keys — and every discovery revives the same temptation to keep rather than report.
Authorities have recovered several such packages in just the past two weeks. The Monroe County Sheriff's Office confirmed that all seizures have been turned over to the U.S. Border Patrol for processing and investigation.
On Friday afternoon, a package of cocaine weighing about one kilogram was found among mangroves near John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park on the ocean side of Key Largo. It was wrapped in multiple layers of tape, and its most striking feature was a large cartoon image: Tom, the cat from Tom and Jerry, wearing sunglasses. The identity of the person who found it has not been disclosed; law enforcement secured the scene promptly after being notified.
Earlier in the week, on Monday, a kayaker reported finding half a kilogram of cocaine off the coast of Summerland Key in the Lower Keys. That package was marked with the number "333" — a detail authorities noted matched another one-kilogram shipment found in the same vicinity two weeks earlier.
And on Saturday, mariners in a private vessel found a package about seven miles off Islamorada containing approximately 21 individually wrapped kilograms of suspected cocaine, emblazoned with an image of a bald eagle. Samuel Briggs II, the acting chief patrol agent of the U.S. Border Patrol, posted video of the seizure on social media and thanked the "Good Samaritans" in the community.
On September 29, Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey took to social media with a "lost and found" notice: a good Samaritan had found 18 kilos — nearly 40 pounds — of cocaine along the county's coastline, apparently tumbled from a boat. The drugs were packed in waterproof material, and each block was branded with a black-and-white sketch of a jaguar's head.
"All of us at one point or another in our lives have lost or misplaced something important," Ivey wrote, "so if the 18 kilos of coke belongs to you, all we need you to do is come down to our Criminal Investigative Services building in Rockledge and claim your property with absolutely no strings attached!! Once we properly identify you as the rightful owner we will gladly return your property — and keep both you and your property in a secure area so no one can try to rip you off."
The post went viral. Beneath the humor, the message was serious: the smugglers lost their cargo, the police have it, and they are welcome to come forward.
The Monroe County Sheriff's Office explained that the markings — the sunglasses-wearing Tom, the "333," the bald eagle, the jaguar head — are how traffickers track ownership and intended destination. Every shipment carries its own brand, so that if a load is lost at sea or intercepted, the marking tells associates whose cargo it was and where it was headed.
Florida sits just a few hundred miles from Caribbean trafficking hubs used to move narcotics from South America to the United States and Europe. When smuggling boats are chased by law enforcement, hit storms, or simply mishandle cargo, waterproof bales slip overboard and ride the currents toward Florida's beaches and keys.
This is nothing new. In 2024, Hurricane Debby blew 25 packages — 70 pounds, worth over $1 million — onto a Florida Keys beach. That June, boaters found 65 pounds of cocaine floating off the Keys, and divers recovered 25 kilograms from about 100 feet of water off Key West. In 2023, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor, fishing with her family, reeled in 70 pounds of cocaine.
A single one-kilogram bale can be worth a small fortune on the street, and the waterproof packaging means the find is ready to move. Fishermen, tourists, and kayakers who stumble across a package often think first of a windfall — not of calling the police.
But authorities warn repeatedly: keeping or selling cocaine is a serious felony, and the price of that windfall is a long prison sentence. The right move is not to touch it and to call law enforcement immediately.
For Florida Keys residents, drifting narcotics have become part of local life: every so often, someone pulls a bale from the sea, and the sheriff's social media delivers another "lost and found" notice. As the Times feature put it, in these waters, the most coveted catch isn't a fish — it's a bale of cocaine that floated in from the sea.
Keywords: Florida Keys, cocaine, drug smuggling, waterfront packages, U.S. Border Patrol