Florida Keys boat captain tried to sell cocaine found at sea to undercover detectives, sheriff’s office says

A charter boat captain in the Florida Keys was arrested this week for allegedly selling cocaine allegedly found at sea, authorities said.

Bradford Todd Picariello, 65, of Marathon, Fla., was arrested Monday after allegedly selling a kilogram of drugs to undercover detectives for $10,000 in cash, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release Tuesday.

Authorities seized a total of 23 kilograms of cocaine, a 38-foot boat and $8,000 in cash, the sheriff’s office said. A .40 caliber handgun was also confiscated. Authorities posted an image on social media showing around 20 packages of suspected drugs, some labeled “332.”

“I want to thank everyone in the Sheriff’s Office and our law enforcement partners who investigated this case and continue to work to prevent dangerous drugs from entering our community,” Sheriff Rick Ramsay said in a statement.

Picariello was charged with trafficking, selling and possessing cocaine. The investigation was assisted by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Border Patrol, U.S. Drug and Enforcement Administration, and CBP Air and Marine Operations.

Picariello was taken to jail and his case is expected to face federal prosecution, the sheriff’s office said.

Drug traffickers often attempt to smuggle cocaine across the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean aboard fast boats and “narco submarines.” Cocaine may be dumped in water to evade detection by law enforcement or to be picked up by other smugglers, but the drug sometimes ends up on beaches and in waters off Florida.

Last July, a swimmer found near half a million dollars worth of cocaine wrapped in a “Yosemite Sam” wrapper washed up on the shore of Walton County, Florida.

In December 2024, a Florida fisherman found 25 kilos of cocaine along the coast, CBS News Miami reported.

In August 2024, Hurricane Debby blew up packages of cocaine worth over $1 million on a beach in the Florida Keys. The same month, tourists on a Florida beach I found a package with 16 bricks of suspected cocaine.

In June 2024, boaters off the Florida Keys found 65 pounds of cocaine floating in the ocean. A few weeks earlier, divers found approximately 55 pounds of cocaine about 100 feet underwater off the coast of Key West.

In 2023, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor, while on a fishing trip with her family, swallowed 70 pounds of cocaine.