A kilogram of suspected cocaine wrapped in plastic and stamped with a lion image washed up at Robbie's Marina in Islamorada on Wednesday, the second lion-marked package to hit the Middle Keys shoreline in less than a week. A park ranger had found a nearly identical kilo on Sunday at Long Key State Park.
Monroe County deputies collected the latest brick and turned it over to federal agents, according to the Miami Herald. The sheriff's office said both bundles carried the same lion graphic and were photographed by investigators before being removed from the waterline.
According to the sheriff's office, the package found near Robbie's Marina had been punctured and contaminated by saltwater before it was handed to U.S. Border Patrol for processing. “Customs and Border Protection takes washed-up drug loads for intelligence reasons,” Monroe County Sheriff Rick Ramsay told the Miami Herald, adding that investigators are unlikely to tie the bricks to a specific vessel or person.
Why this keeps happening
Smugglers sometimes jettison packages during risky runs, and currents, storms and tides can steer sealed bales onto beaches and into mangroves, a pattern law enforcement has seen again and again in the Keys. Local coverage notes that good Samaritans and park rangers frequently report these surprise landings, which are then collected and processed by federal partners; NBC 6 recently documented a similar recovery.
How authorities handle washed-up loads
When deputies recover suspected narcotics, they tag the packages and turn them over to U.S. Border Patrol or Customs and Border Protection for testing and intelligence work. Investigators say markings and graphics on the wrapping help map trafficking patterns, but a lone brick on a beach is rarely the ticket to an arrest; past coverage shows recovered bales are routinely processed and folded into larger investigations. WSVN and other local outlets have reported similar handoffs in recent years.
Officials urged anyone who stumbles across a suspicious package to leave it where it is and call local law enforcement rather than try to move it. The sheriff's office is asking the public to report any tips that could help identify larger shipments or vessels operating offshore.
