Resurfaced footage shows moment sea turtle found tangled up in nearly £40million worth of cocaine
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Resurfaced footage shows a sea turtle being cut free from £40 million of cocaine in the eastern Pacific.
The US Coast Guard (USCG) spotted the poor little dude trapped amongst 26 packages of cocaine, amounting to around 800kg of the drug.
Watch them free the animal here:
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The creature was discovered among the masses of coke back in November 2017 during a 68-day counter drug patrol, and it was fortunate they found the animal when they did.
Commander Jose Diaz said: "There were some marks on her neck, so he may have been there a day or two."
A spokesperson from the USCG said: "While on patrol Nov. 19, the cutter launched its Over the Horizon small boat to investigate a debris field. The boat crew discovered a large sea turtle entangled in multiple bales of suspected contraband.
"Coast Guard Ens. Mark Krebs, the pursuit mission commander, said that as his team arrived on scene with the jettison field, they immediately noticed the entangled sea turtle.
"They saw significant chaffing from the lines on his neck and flippers. They briefed the commanding officer and went to work, carefully cutting the lines wrapped around the sea turtle and then eventually freeing him.
"The boat crew recovered over 75-feet of line to prevent further entanglement of sea life and returned to the law enforcement mission recovering over 1,800 pounds of cocaine valued at over $53 million dollars from international waters."
Naturally, people made light of the situation on social media.
One person joked: "Turtle: 'I was just holding this for my friend while he went to the bathroom.'"
Another added: "USCG seems helpful, sure, but that turtle's a goner when he has to go home and tell his boss he lost the shipment."
Even the USCG got involved with the banter.
It tweeted: "After a period of lengthy questioning, it was determined the turtle did not have any useful information.
"We released him on his own recognizance after he agreed not to return to these waters again.
"In all seriousness, we love our sea creatures and do everything we can to help them when we see them in distressed situations.
"Additionally, during this patrol nearly seven tons of illicit narcotics with a street value over $135 million was confiscated."
