Instead of the mahi-mahi they set out for, they ended up netting a $1 million haul of cocaine.
The fishermen were alerted to the floating coke by the unusual behaviour of fish in the area. They noticed that every time they passed what looked like some random debris floating in the water the fish were jumping around, and even landing in the boat on occasion.
“We trolled past it,” one of the fishermen told Live 5. “Every time we passed it we caught a fish.”
Eventually, they became curious about the fishy behaviour. After a few hours they decided to reel in one of the floating parcels wrapped in black plastic.
On discovering that the parcel contained a sizeable block of white powder, they responsibly alerted the US Coastguard.
Coast Guard Lt. j.g. Phillip VanderWeit estimated the street value of the drugs haul as being between $750,000 and $1 million.
“It definitely doesn’t happen off the Charleston coast every day,” VanderWeit said. “It’s a bit more common further south, whether in the Caribbean or the south Pacific.”
The coke was probably thrown overboard by smugglers who feared a mid-ocean DEA raid, or it could have been jettisoned by a particularly lively submarine crew or for that matter it have just floated away from Love Island.
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