A boater threw something overboard. The Coast Guard found it, and now there’s trouble
A man sped through the evening darkness in a boat off the Florida Keys, turning off his navigation lights to avoid attracting attention.
But all that effort had the opposite result, according to federal court documents filed Monday.
A Coast Guard cutter patrolling about nine nautical miles southeast of Key Largo spotted the 30-foot Wellcraft around 7 p.m. New Year’s Day. The agency then launched one of its boats to find out what was on board the vessel.
As the Coast Guard crew got nearer to the Wellcraft, they saw the driver threw a large bag overboard. They ordered him to stop, but instead, he increased his speed and “conducted corkscrew maneuvers” to try getting away, Coast Guard Investigative Service Special Agent Michael Perez wrote in his report.
The driver, identified in the report as Elio Diaz-Hernandez, eventually stopped, and the Coast Guard crew retrieved the bag he tossed.
Inside, they found 15 individually wrapped packages that turned out to be around 36 pounds — about 16 kilograms — of cocaine, according to Perez.
Diaz-Hernandez, 55, was arrested on a charge of possession with intent to distribute five or more kilograms of cocaine. He is scheduled to appear at the Key West federal courthouse at 2 p.m. Friday.
This story was originally published January 6, 2020 at 1:00 PM.
