$1 Million Dollars of Cocaine Seized on Florida Beach

It's a bird! It's a Plane! It's $1 million dollars worth of cocaine! Yes, some lucky beachgoer in the Florida Keys stumbled upon a surprise treasure trove worth nearly a million bucks! Then again, I guess that depends on who finds it. They do say that one man's trash is another man's treasure. Yeah, unfortunately, this kind of booty, if found on you, could put you behind bars. According to CBS News Miami, it was a really large stash of cocaine! Yup. And it was just chilling' there on the beach.

Now the dude who found it wasn't about to keep that to himself. (Smart Move), So he did the right thing and called the feds. Those Border Patrol agents must've felt like they hit the jackpot when they rolled up and found 65 pounds of pure coke just sittin' there, waiting to be picked up. Talk about the easiest and massive drug bust ever! 65 pounds?! That's a whole lotta nose candy, my friends.

Now, I ain't no expert, but word on the street is that this stuff could fetch around a million dollars. Well, if you know the right people, Or the wrong kinda people… Either way, that's some serious dough right there, all washed up on the shore like it's no big deal.

It's not even the first time something like this has happened too. Back in October 2023, another package filled with 67 pounds of that sweet, sweet powder washed up in Daytona Beach. Seems like Florida's becoming the go-to spot for beach side drug drops.

So, what's the deal? Are drug smugglers just getting sloppy, or are they using the ocean as their personal delivery service? Either way, it's a pretty wild story that's got everyone talking and touching their nose. It makes me wonder what'll wash up next? I'm hoping for maybe a crate of a million dollars in cash. Something I could at least have a use for. One thing's for sure, I never knew you could enjoy the sun and snow when visiting Florida beaches!

In a new study by the Florida International University, 94% of the fish off the Florida coast tested positive for drugs. In the study, researchers sampled 113 Florida redfish, looking for 94 commonly prescribed pharmaceuticals. And they found them. On average, researchers detected 2.1 pharmaceuticals per redfish and only seven of those redfish tested clean. Of the areas tested, Tampa Bay had one of the highest concentrations. Looking to our Southwest Florida waters, Charlotte Harbor had medium concentrations. The Fort Myers are was not tested. So why are the fish on drugs? It's the wastewater.

According to FIU, "Pharmaceutical contaminants originate most often from human wastewater and are not sufficiently removed by conventional water treatment. They remain active at low doses and can be released constantly." The drugs affect the lives of the fish, and "On average, 25.7 percent of the fish exceeded a level of pharmaceuticals considered safe, which equates to one-third of the therapeutic levels in humans." So it's not just harmful to the fish, the amount of drugs in the fish really questions the safety of eating them.

The most common drug found in the redfish was Flecainide, which can treat and prevent serious irregular heartbeats. Heart medicine. That makes sense since a LOT of people here in Florida take that drug. The most common side effect of that drug is constipation. Second most? Tramadol. That's right, the opioid analgesic pain killer. More than half of the redfish (52%) had Tramadol in them. "Ayy bro lemme get two pounds of that OxyFish...." is not just a joke. And Tramadol isn't just a painkiller. It may decrease fertility in men and women.

The study goes on to say “The results of this study indicate that there are additional opportunities for improvement by retrofitting existing wastewater treatment plants with innovative technologies, like ozone treatment, to remove pharmaceuticals and requiring such technology on new wastewater facilities.” So the trend can be reversed. But it's going to take more research, and money. Last year, the school conducted a study on bonefish in Biscayne Bay and the Florida Keys with similar results.

Here's the .pdf of the full study