Hurricane Debby has hit the U.S. coast with winds reaching up to 70 miles per hour (112 kilometers per hour) but that’s not the only type of blow it’s brought.
On Monday, Acting Chief Patrol Agent of the U.S. Border Patrol – Miami Sector Samuel Briggs II wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that the storm washed up 25 packages of cocaine onto a shore in the Florida Keys.
In total, the packages of coke weighed 70 pounds (31.7 kilograms) and had a street value of around $1 million, said Briggs. They were found by a “Good Samaritan,” who reported them to authorities.
Hurricanes have a habit of bringing unexpected, illegal gifts ashore. In 2019, more than a dozen bricks of cocaine were found on two Florida beaches after the state was hit by Hurricane Dorian.
Sometimes, storms aren’t even necessary for the sea to vomit up illicit party favors. In June, 71 pounds (32 kilograms) of cocaine estimated to have a street value of almost $5 million were recovered from yet another Florida beach. Almost a year earlier, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor was having a relaxing fishing trip in her home state (we’re sensing a pattern here), when she reeled in another 70 pounds of disco dandruff.
Debby made landfall in Florida on Monday and is currently heading across the northern part of the state toward Georgia and South Carolina. At least four people are dead as a result of accidents attributed to the storm.
Almost 250,000 households are without power and the National Hurricane Center warned that flooding can be expected across the Southeastern United States over the next few days.
