Florida mayor on a fishing trip reels in over $1 million worth of cocaine!
Tampa, Florida - Jane Castor, the mayor of Tampa, Florida, was fishing with her family in the Florida Keys when she reeled in the catch of her life: a microwave-sized bag packed with 70 pounds of cocaine worth $1.1 million!
Castor's family was headed back to port when her brother spotted some debris, the mayor told Tampa TV station WFLA-TV. They decided to edge closer for a better chance at catching fish, she said, as smaller fish tend to congregate beneath debris' shade.
"The closer we got, I realized that it was a bale of cocaine," Castor told the outlet.
Castor would know. She was a narcotics officer in the Tampa Police Department for eight years, and the chief of the department for six.
The package was wrapped in fraying plastic and proved to contain about two dozen tightly wrapped bricks, tastefully adorned with blue and purple butterflies. After dragging it onboard their boat, Castor notified the Monroe County Sheriff's Office.
US Border Patrol agents soon swooped in and collected the stash, confirming the contents and the value.
Tampa mayor's annual fishing trip takes an unexpected turn
"Over the weekend, Border Patrol agents in the Miami Sector seized 70 pounds of cocaine that was discovered by a recreational boater in the Florida Keys," Chief Patrol Agent Walter N. Slosar said on social media. "The drugs have an estimated street value of approximately $1.1 million dollars."
Jane Castor's been taking this summer fishing trip for nearly a decade, she told the Tampa Bay Times newspaper. This year she was accompanied by her son and his girlfriend, in addition to Castor's brother.
Her usual haul is mahi-mahi and spiny lobster.
Cover photo: Collage: Screenshot/Twitter/@USBPChiefMIP & Screenshot/Instagram/ Jane Caster