A Department of Homeland Security investigation is underway after some 65 pounds of cocaine washed ashore at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
According to Space Launch Delta 45, 24 packages weighing nearly 30 kilograms (roughly 65 pounds) were recovered from the beach last month. A Brevard County Sheriff’s Office narcotics agent performed a field test and confirmed all were filled with cocaine. The sheriff’s office said the drugs have an estimated value of about $1.2 million.
Drug agents speculate that it could have been dumped by smugglers trying to evade law enforcement.
A wildlife manager was conducting sea turtle nesting surveys on May 19 when she found small, tightly wrapped packages dotting the shore, Space Launch Delta 45 said in a Friday release.
“While I was waiting for them to arrive, I drove a little further and noticed another package, and then another,” Angy Chambers, of the 45th Civil Engineer Squadron, told Florida Today. “I called SFS back and suggested they bring their UTV, or utility terrain vehicle, as I counted at least 18 packages.”
The packages of cocaine were turned over to Homeland Security, where they were examined for any unique markings and identifiers.
According to Homeland Security Special Agent David Castro, maritime drug traffickers will often transport bulk shipments in bales. He said the bale wrapping is sometimes destroyed during transit which causes bricks to be lost at sea and eventually recovered on the US coastline.
Homeland Security’s investigation into the origins of the drugs is still underway.
“We take pride in protecting our base and the surrounding community,” 45th Space Forces Squadron Flight Sergeant Joseph Parker said in the release. “There is also a higher level of job satisfaction knowing that these drugs will not make it into our community.”
