A brick of cocaine washed up in the Florida Keys, and a ‘concerned citizen’ found it

The recent trend in the Florida Keys of people finding and reporting drugs that wash ashore continues.

This time, a 2.7-pound brick of cocaine was found by a “concerned citizen” near Little Torch Key in the Lower Keys on Tuesday, according to U.S. Border Patrol spokesman Adam Hoffner.

The person notified local authorities, who turned the brick over to Border Patrol agents.

The cocaine is worth about $61,000 on the street, Hoffner said.

“We appreciate the support from the local community,” Hoffner said in a statement, noting the person who found the suspicious package immediately reported it.

Another package of drugs turned up in the Lower Keys last week.

On July 14, a package of marijuana wrapped in brown duct tape was spotted by a beachgoer on Geiger Key, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office said.

Border Patrol recovered about 4 1/2 pounds of marijuana, Hoffner said.

He called the person who reported it a good Samaritan.

This story was originally published July 20, 2021 at 5:22 PM with the headline "A brick of cocaine washed up in the Florida Keys, and a ‘concerned citizen’ found it."

Gwen Filosa

Miami Herald

Gwen Filosa covers Key West and the Lower Florida Keys for FLKeysNews.com and the Miami Herald and lives in Key West. She was part of the staff at the New Orleans Times-Picayune that in 2005 won two Pulitzer Prizes for coverage of Hurricane Katrina. She graduated from Indiana University.