Florida Keys - Drug Smuggling

Drug Smuggling

Many fortunes have been made through the smuggling of drugs into the United States by way of the Keys. Law enforcement has been a major addition over the years as smuggling increased and spread throughout most of the Keys. During the 1970s this Law Enforcement was practically non-existent, and tons of cannabis came into the Keys by boat and were carried off the islands by tractor trailers. With the beginning of the "War on Drugs" in the 1980s, Federal and State Law Enforcement began its expansion in a futile effort to stop the smuggling. The smuggling groups adjusted their tactics and even though Law Enforcement began to make some arrests, drugs continued to pour through from Key West to Everglades City. The 1980s saw the rise of cocaine smuggling into the Keys by smaller boats with "hidden" compartments and various underwater containers attached to the bottom of vessels.