Tampa mayor catches $1.1M worth of cocaine while fishing in Florida Keys with family

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A Florida mayor and her family were on a fishing trip to catch mahi-mahi late last month when they instead reeled in over a million dollars’ worth of cocaine.

Tampa Mayor Jane Castor, the city’s former police chief, was in the Florida Keys to celebrate her son’s birthday when her younger brother spotted what appeared to be debris in the Atlantic Ocean.

As the family reeled in the mysterious object onto their boat, Castor quickly determined the contents were drugs. 

“Closer we got, I was like, ‘Oh, that would be a bail of cocaine,’” Castor told FOX13 Tampa.

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Tampa Mayor Jane Castor and her family reeled in a bale that contained 25 bricks of cocaine while fishing for mahi-mahi in the Florida Keys late last month. (Jane Castor via FOX13 Tampa WTVT)

Castor said the package was heavy as the family hauled it onto their boat using a gaff. She then called local law enforcement.

Castor told reporters that while she has previously found other unusual objects at sea, the family has “never found floating bales of cocaine before, that’s for sure.”

Castor, the city’s former police chief, previously worked in the department’s narcotics unit. (FOX13 Tampa WTVT)

U.S. Border Patrol in the Miami sector later confirmed that a recreational boater in the Florida Keys discovered 25 bricks of cocaine.

The 25 bricks of cocaine weighed about 70 pounds and were worth an estimated $1.1 million, according to U.S. Border Patrol officials. (U.S. Border Patrol Miami Sector)

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The drugs weighed about 70 pounds and had an estimated street value of $1.1 million, officials said.

“We appreciate the ongoing support from our boating community,” a U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesperson told the station in a statement. “Thanks to the efforts of this Good Samaritan, 70 pounds of cocaine are in federal custody and off our streets.”

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Before becoming mayor, Castor served three decades in the Tampa Police Department, working for years in narcotics and serving six years as the city’s first female police chief.