When you think of Florida, some of the first things to come to mind are its great weather, strong economy, and masses of retirees.

But what might not be your first thought is the copious amounts of drugs washing up on the state’s beaches.

One Monday in August, around $1 million worth of cocaine — 25 packages at roughly 70 pounds each — was discovered at a beach in the Florida Keys after Hurricane Debby swept through the region.

Earlier this summer, boaters found another 65 pounds of cocaine floating in the ocean near the Florida Keys, and divers came across 25 kilograms of cocaine roughly 100 feet underwater off Key West.

And that’s far from the end of it. Around 67 pounds of cocaine was seized after washing up on a beach in Volusia County in October 2023.

Even drugs like marijuana have washed ashore in vast volumes at places like Neptune Beach and Palm Beach. (All you NY tourists note: recreational use in Florida is still illegal.)


Where is it all coming from?

According to researchers with the United Nations, approximately 90% of cocaine consumed in North America was produced in — drumroll, please —South America.

Drug traffickers then try to smuggle the illicit substances over the water via boats or small aircraft, often over the Caribbean Sea or Atlantic Ocean.

However, traffickers will dump their hauls into the water below for fellow smugglers to pick up or to evade detection by law enforcement.


How does it get to Florida?

According to Scientific American, loose packages of cocaine dropped in the water may be carried by ocean currents or strong storms, which causes them to wash up on the shore.

And with Debby having just passed through, it’s no surprise that so much was discovered lately in the Florida Keys.

“You always hear about tropical systems unearthing shipwrecks and things like that, so if there’s something in the water — the storm can transport that, too!” News 6 Meteorologist Jonathan Kegges said.


What should I do if I find suspicious packages on the beach?

“Finders keepers” doesn’t apply here.

First of all, many packages are marked with certain symbols or insignias to denote what group they came from, which can help indicate whether what you’re looking at is actually an illicit substance.

But holding onto it is a bad idea, according to Florida law firm Perlet & Shiner.

“It should go without saying that retaining possession of (a washed-up block of drugs) is an incredibly bad idea...” the law firm states. “If, for example, you intentionally retain possession of a block of drugs later valued at $100,000, you have committed grand theft in the first degree, which can carry up to 30 years in prison, plus significant fines.” So, if you stumble across bricks of cocaine on the beach, you should instead immediately alert your local law enforcement agency and keep an eye on the packages.