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One million dollars of cocaine has reportedly surfaced on a Florida beach amid the recent downfall of Hurricane Debby.
According to Fox 35 Orlando, the packages of cocaine were discovered “near a pier” in Islamorada, Florida, on Sunday, August 4. The outlet notes that a person stumbled upon the substance and turned it over to the U.S. Border Patrol.
Additionally, the outlet reports that the packages had a “total weight of approximately 70 pounds.”
Per PEOPLE, Samuel Briggs II, the Acting Chief Patrol Agent of the U.S. Border Patrol’s Miami Sector, publicly confirmed the package’s discovery on Monday, August 5. Briggs II took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to share photos of the packages while disclosing their “street value.”
“Hurricane Debby blew 25 packages of cocaine (70 lbs.) onto a beach in the Florida Keys. Good Samaritan discovered the drugs & contacted authorities. U.S. Border Patrol seized the drugs, which have a street value of over $1 million dollars,” he tweeted.
According to the outlet, this isn’t the first time pounds of the substance has found its way into Florida shores. On June 17, Briggs II took to X to share that a “recreational boater” discovered “65 lbs. of cocaine floating at sea.”
“Recreational boater in the Florida Keys discovers 65 lbs. of cocaine floating at sea. The cocaine has an estimated street value of over $1 million & will be seized by the U.S. #BorderPatrol. We appreciate the support from Good Samaritan’s in our community,” he wrote at the time.
Additionally, Briggs II shared footage of the packages discovered.
According to the outlet, Hurricane Debby made landfall in Florida around 7 a.m. on Monday, August 5. Additionally, Debby reportedly touched down as a Category 1 hurricane “with maximum wind speeds of 80 miles per hour.”
Furthermore, PEOPLE notes that Debby was downgraded to a tropical storm around 11 a.m. on Monday. Per a tweet shared by the National Hurricane Center on Tuesday, August 6, Debby is now expected to move along the southeastern coast of the U.S.
The center notes that Debby is expected to move offshore of Georgia’s coast later today. However, Georgia and its surrounding states of South Carolina and North Carolina can expect potential flood threats over the “next few days.”
