55 pounds of suspected cocaine found floating off the coast of Key West

Over the weekend, Key West police and Monroe County Sheriff's Office reported that 25 bricks of narcotics were found floating 50 miles offshore near Coconut Mallory Marina in Florida.

Southern Florida authorities reported receiving a tip on Saturday around 3:38 p.m. from an unnamed person who spotted a bale floating in the ocean, which was fished out.

Key West police arrived first on the scene at Coconut Mallory Marina. Inside the bale, they found 25 rectangle-shaped bricks wrapped in green plastic. Each brick was marked with "XXX" decals. Florida authorities estimated that the narcotics weighed roughly 55 pounds total.

The sheriff's office posted the finding on Facebook and Twitter, celebrating the seizure of a large amount of narcotics. However, the post did not specify what was inside the bricks.

An article from WFOR-TV and a blog post from the sheriff's office stated that the narcotics were suspected to be cocaine, but that has not yet been confirmed.

Since the finding, Monroe County Sheriff's Office submitted the suspected cocaine to the office's property and evidence division. Afterward, it will be handed over to federal authorities.

Finding narcotics floating in the ocean or washing up to shore is a somewhat common occurrence in the southern Florida area.

In late July, Border Patrol Agents helped recover 126 pounds of cocaine that had washed ashore near a Florida Keys condominium. The packages were tightly wrapped with black tape. It weighed roughly 71.6 pounds, and the narcotics were estimated to be worth $2 million.

Another 69 pounds of bricks filled with cocaine were found floating in the ocean near the Florida Keys in late 2021. U.S. Coast Guards and Border Patrol worked together to seize the narcotics. It was reported to be valued at $1 million.

According to U.S. Border Patrol reports, year-to-date, the organization has seized nearly 54,000 pounds of cocaine. Last year, the department recovered over 97,000 pounds.