SEBASTIAN — Authorities speculate more than $1 million worth of cocaine found Saturday near the Sebastian Inlet State Park may have been tossed by smugglers in an attempt to not be caught with the illegal drugs.

The Indian River County Sheriff’s Office said they responded to a call about 8:30 a.m. Saturday about a package floating near the shore, said spokesman Deputy Jeff Luther. A boater spotted the package, he said.

Deputies determined the package contained 60 pounds of cocaine, Luther said. The street value of the package is substantial, but probably not a huge loss to the smugglers, he said.

“They may have become spooked about getting caught with it,” Luther said. “But losing one package to them would just be considered overhead.”

The package is the third found in the Atlantic Ocean along the Treasure Coast in this summer, Luther said. A smaller amount was found along Indian River a month ago, and authorities at the Fort Pierce Police Department found an unspecified amount a few weeks ago, Luther said.

Authorities couldn’t say whether the three waterborne packages found off the Treasure Coast were connected. The package found Saturday had a few barnacles on its side, which indicates it may have been in the water several weeks, Luther said.

Cocaine trafficking by the high seas was a common method used in the 1980s, though activity died down in the 1990s, Luther said.

“This could be a reoccurence, but we don’t know that for sure,” Luther said.

The Sheriff’s Office advises residents to notify authorities if they come across other packages. Handling such a package could result in a possession of cocaine charge, Luther said. The cocaine would also pose a health hazard, he said.

By Lamaur Stancil

Tags: author, boaters, cocaine, deputies, deputy, dies, drugs, Health, inlet, loss, losses, police, possession, sheriff, value, water

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 11th, 2009 at 11:40 am and is filed under Crime, Indian River County. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.