Tampa Bay mayor reels in $1 million worth of cocaine on fishing trip

Tampa Bay Mayor Jane Castor hauled in a package of cocaine worth an estimated $1.1 million while on a fishing trip with her family last month, according to a report.

Castor was out enjoying a Sunday of mahi-mahi fishing off the Florida Keys when the mayor’s younger brother pointed out a strange-looking black package bobbing in the sea.

“Cocaine!” said Castor, who spent three decades with the Tampa Police Department.

The mayor served eight years in narcotics and six years as police chief.

The family pulled the microwave-sized package on the deck. Surely enough, beneath layers of plastic were tightly packed bricks of coke, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

The US Border Patrol later confirmed that the haul was 70 pounds of cocaine worth estimated to have a street value of $1.1 million.


Each of the bricks were decorated with a purple and blue butterfly.
Each of the bricks were decorated with a purple and blue butterfly.
Twitter/@USBPChiefMIP

Mayor Castor was a Tampa cop for 30 years
Mayor Castor was a Tampa cop for 30 years and immediately identified the strange package as cocaine.
Getty Images

Castor saved their location off the Key city of Marathon and headed back to their rental, she told the newspaper. As the boat approached the dock, she phoned the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office. 

When a local officer arrived she told him that she used to be a cop in Tampa. Later two federal agents showed up and took the package away.

Chief Border Patrol Agent Walter N. Slosar tweeted a photo on July 24 showing 25 bricks, each decorated with purple and blue butterflies.


Tampa Mayor Jane Castor caught $1.1 million worth of cocaine while on a fishing trip in the Florida Keys in late July 2023.
The Mayor was with her brother, her son and his girlfriend when they made the find.
Jane Castor

Tampa Mayor Jane Castor in an official portrait.
Castor, a Democrat, is the first openly gay mayor of Tampa. She was elected in 2019.
Facebook/Mayor Jane Castor

On the same day, The Miami Herald reported the find — although with no mention of Mayor Castor.

The mayor said she and her family had been making the trip to the Keys for nearly decade to enjoy the annual two-day lobster harvest held in late July.

Castor’s son and his girlfriend were also onboard at the time, she told the Tampa Bay Times.

Castor said her family spent the rest of their vacation diving and fishing. While they caught no more drugs, they did pull in about 60 lobsters.