Cocaine deaths rising

Drug smuggled to South Florida on planes, boats

Cocaine killed more people in Florida last year than any other drug, and authorities expect it will only get worse as traffickers push more of the narcotic through the Sunshine State.

Cocaine-related fatalities rose for the fourth year in a row in 2016, contributing to the deaths of 2,882 people, according to the latest data from the Florida Medical Examiner’s Commission.

The Drug Enforcement Administration says the deaths statewide coincide in part with an increase in Colombian cocaine moving through the Caribbean and entering South Florida. Much of the cocaine is being smuggled on planes and boats.

“What you’re seeing in the medical examiner data is a direct result of the increasing supply of cocaine,” said Justin Miller, intelligence chief for the DEA’s Miami field division. “Unfortunately, we are seeing the consequences of having that much cocaine coming into our region.”

Cocaine production in Colombia has hit a record high. That’s partly because the government ended the practice of aerial spraying of herbicides over coca fields, which curbed cultivation of the crop. The Colombian government ended the decadeslong program over health concerns.

Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties last year saw some of the highest rates of cocaine-related deaths among Florida’s 67 counties, medical examiner data shows.

Palm Beach County had more than 25 deaths per 100,000 people and was among the top four counties with the highest rates of co-

caine-related deaths, at 405.

Broward and MiamiDade counties had 15 to 20 deaths per 100,000 people. Broward County had 328 cocaine-related deaths, while Miami-Dade had 439.

The DEA estimates Colombia produced 710 tons of pure cocaine last year — enough to fill about 18 semi-trucks — a 35 percent increase over 2015 levels.

With the supply increasing, the price is going down. One kilo — about 2.2 pounds — of pure cocaine was worth between $28,000 and $35,000 two to three years ago, he said. Today, the same amount is worth $26,000 to $28,000.

On the streets of Miami, a gram sells for between $50 and $80 these days, Miller said.

Florida’s Customs and Border Protection says it seized 4,500 pounds of cocaine during its most recent budget year, a slight increase over the 4,200 pounds seized the year before.

Trafficking organizations have begun dropping drugs into the ocean in waterproof packaging for retrieval using GPS coordinates, according to the DEA.

About 50 miles off the coast of Key West last year, recreational divers found more than 10 pounds of cocaine anchored to the ocean floor.

Colombian trafficking organizations ship cocaine and heroin directly to Florida, specifically Miami and Orlando, through private and commercial flights, air cargo, shipping containers and small boats, DEA records show.

An increased supply of cocaine isn’t the only reason for the rise in deaths.

Jim Hall, an epidemiologist for Nova Southeastern University, said many of the cocaine-related deaths are instances where people are using more than one drug at the same time, or one right after the other.

“Many of these people are dying because of cocaine with an opioid,” he said. “Or, they are taking contaminated cocaine.”

Miller, too, said much of today’s cocaine supply is “tainted” by other drugs. “In our lab submissions, we are seeing cocaine, heroin and fentanyl all being sold as the same substance,” Miller said.

With even more cocaine arriving on U.S. shores this year, the entire country can expect more deaths to come, DEA records show.

“Right now, from an enforcement standpoint, we are hitting them very hard. We have some tremendous operations going on right now,” Miller said. But still, “the outlook doesn’t look good right now.”