What at first appeared to be a floating treasure may have turned into a career-sinking criminal case for a Florida Keys charter boat captain arrested this week for allegedly trying to sell cocaine he found at sea.
Bradford Todd Picariello, 65, of Marathon, Florida, was arrested Monday after allegedly selling a kilogram of cocaine for $10,000 to undercover detectives, according to a statement released Tuesday by the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.
That’s not even the half of it. The captain allegedly said he had more. Lots more.
Soon, detectives were in a storage unit seizing 22 more kilos of coke that police said Picariello happened upon while at sea as part of his charter business — coincidently named “Outlaw Fishing Charters,” according to the Miami Herald.
According to police, the nearly two dozen kilos were all wrapped and marked with a label, “332,” an apparent branding designation by the manufacturer of the powdered substance.
Also seized was $8,000 in cash and the captain’s 38-foot boat.
The initial bust went down after the captain allegedly told an undercover agent to bring a cooler to the deal so it would look like he was picking up that day’s catch, according to the Herald’s coverage the sheriff’s arrest report.
When the captain asked the agent for the money, police swarmed the area and cuffed the captain, according to the Herald.
Charter boat crews selling cocaine found at sea “is not uncommon in the Keys,” the Herald also reported. Drugs are apparently left afloat by drug traffickers who ditch their cargo to evade authorities or perhaps even to sink the evidence at sea.
As of Tuesday, Picariello was being held without bond in county jail on charges of selling, trafficking, and possessing cocaine, according to the Herald.
Contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the best-selling author of the Los Angeles crime novel Below the Line and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.
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