A floating bale of cocaine has been recovered in the Gulf of Mexico off Florida.

The U.S. Coast Guard said more than 75 pounds of cocaine was found in the package on Sunday. 

The agency says a ‘good Samaritan’ notified authorities of the buoyant oddity bobbing south of Pensacola on Saturday evening, and multiple agencies searched the area that night.

In addition to the Coast Guard, Customs and Border Protection, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, Orange Beach police, Homeland Security Investigations and the interagency Regional Coordinating Mechanism assisted with the recovery.

It’s unclear to whom the cocaine belongs.

Members of the United States Coast Guard and other border security officials pose with more than 75 pounds of cocaine found off the Florida shore

Members of the United States Coast Guard and other border security officials pose with more than 75 pounds of cocaine found off the Florida shore

In April, the Coast Guard brought ashore 13 tons of illicit drugs worth nearly $1billion that it says were captured in the waters off of Mexico, South and Central America.

The crew from the US Coast Guard Cutter Legare unloaded 12 tons of cocaine and one ton of marijuana in Port Everglades, Florida.

The Coast Guard says that the contraband was seized in a total of 17 operations involving the arrest of drug smugglers.

The Legare confiscated more than 4,500 pounds of cocaine on its own while the Cutter Reliance seized 2,600 pounds of marijuana in one bust alone, according to the Coast Guard.

The Coast Guard says a 'good Samaritan' notified authorities of the buoyant oddity bobbing south of Pensacola on Saturday evening, and multiple agencies searched the area that night

The Coast Guard says a 'good Samaritan' notified authorities of the buoyant oddity bobbing south of Pensacola on Saturday evening, and multiple agencies searched the area that night

The Coast Guard says a ‘good Samaritan’ notified authorities of the buoyant oddity bobbing south of Pensacola on Saturday evening, and multiple agencies searched the area that night

Despite the Coast Guard’s best efforts, the illegal narcotics trade continues to flourish.

Drugs like cocaine generate an estimated tens of billions of dollars a year for exporters.

The top producers of cocaine are Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia.

America’s growing demand for heroin also means billions of dollars for traffickers in Mexico – the largest supplier of the narcotic for the U.S. market.  



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