A beachgoer found a bale of cocaine in Palm Beach over the weekend after it washed ashore.
Chief U.S. Border Patrol Agent Thomas G. Martin, said the package contained 65 pounds of cocaine and valued at over $1.5 million.
Earlier in the year Federal Officers discovered 294 plastic-wrapped bricks of cocaine during a routine X-ray inspection of a U.S. Virgin Islands charter flight that landed at Opa-locka Executive Airport. The total haul was 328 kilos, as 6 individuals were arrested.
“The bricks were inside several duffle bags and suitcases belonging to the only passengers on the private plane,” according to Homeland Security Investigations.
The passengers are Shakim Mike, Teshawn Adams, Maleek Leanard and Roystin David. Mike and Adams are officers in the U.S. Virgin Islands Police Department. All four defendants are U.S. citizens and all but Adams have detention hearings later this month and arraignments in March.
““As the events of last week demonstrate, now more than ever we must all honor the Constitution, under which Mr. Leanard is presumed innocent,” his attorney, Marshall Dore Louis, said. “In line with that magnificent document, I look forward to vigorously defending Mr. Leanard against these charges.”
Not too long before that US Border Patrol seized $1 million worth of cocaine after it washed up on a Florida beach.
Thirty packages were discovered by a person on the beach in Hollywood, Florida, just south of Fort Lauderdale. The beachgoer contacted the Hollywood Police Department, who then turned the packages filled with cocaine over to Border Patrol.
"The 30 packages of cocaine weighed approximately 78 pounds with an estimated street value of over one million dollars," the statement said.
Chief Patrol Agent of US Border Patrol Miami Sector John Modlin said the rise in drugs washing ashore indicated the presence of smugglers operating along the Florida coast.
"These recent seizures represent hundreds of pounds of narcotics that will not make it into our streets or into our communities," Modlin said. "We are grateful for the community's support to our border security mission here in Florida."
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