The U.S. Coast Guard saved a sea turtle trapped in a floating web of cocaine bundles off the coast of Florida on Tuesday.
The crew was on a 68 day patrol up and down the East coast, watching for drug traffickers trying to sneak product into the country. What they found was a cluster of buoyant packages of cocaine, strung together with about 75 feet of rope. Tangled within was a sea turtle fighting for his life.
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First and foremost, the Coast Guard was able to save the turtle, cutting it free and releasing it. They also reeled in all the line to ensure that no more animals would be trapped in it.
As for the contraband, the Coast Guard says they recovered about 1,800 pounds of cocaine, which they’re estimating is worth about $53 million to the people who floated it out there.
Check out the video below.
During their 68-day Eastern Pacific counter drug patrol, the crew of USCGC Thetis rescued a large sea turtle entangled in $53 million worth of cocaine. Read here to learn more about this patrol: https://t.co/x9VCINZ25I pic.twitter.com/Zhddcb4lgg
— U.S. Coast Guard (@USCG) December 21, 2017
Of course, Twitter didn’t fail to make light of the video with some timely reactions.
Coast guard pulled up and he was like pic.twitter.com/6fQmzqEySV
— Gage Gray (@GageGray) December 20, 2017
— Humbly BARNING HARD (10-4) (@jckjes7) December 20, 2017
He wasn’t entangled. You just cost that turtle half a mil $. Way to go Coast Guard
— Garrett Brown (@gbrown529) December 20, 2017
The Coast Guard hasn’t said whether they have suspects or whether the discovery might lead to some sort of conviction.
They also made no indication of whether they thought the floating drugs were part of a smuggling scheme or they’d been lost at sea by accident.
