The U.S. Coast Guard found a sea turtle trapped in cords tying together 1,800 pounds of cocaine.
Coast guard personnel were able to cut through the cords that had tightly become wrapped around the turtle’s neck and fins.
“There were some marks on her neck, so she may have been there a day or two,” Commander Jose Diaz told NBC News.
In total, the team found 75 feet of cord trapping the turtle and removed all of it so no other sea life would get caught.
The cocaine was found floating in the water, without a smuggling vessel in sight.
“They probably felt the heat coming and got rid of it,” said Diaz of whoever lost the drugs, via NBC News.
The deployment was part of Operation Martillo – an international effort to target drug trafficking routes along the coast of Central America. The operation began in 2012 and includes 14 countries.
Although opioids are still the biggest source of drug use in the U.S., cocaine is making a comeback, leading to increased production in Colombia, NBC News reported.