square grouper

March 29, 2017 6:29 PM

Rosado and Ortiz's mysterious killing on October 15, 2015, sent locals from Key Largo to Islamorada into a panic and left sheriff's deputies scrambling. Detectives would follow a trail of violence and blackmail for months before divining its source: Jeremy Macauley, a fisherman with a troubled past who'd found a bale of pure cocaine floating in the turquoise sea. Months later, a prosecutor's suicide and a surprise jailhouse interview would further muddy the tale.

How a Floating Bale of Cocaine Led to the Florida Keys' Worst Murder in Decades, Tim Elfrinkm Miami New Times
posted by the man of twists and turns (10 comments total)

..

"I would not take this thing, if it lay by the highway."

Those poor little ones - it never occurred to them to get help, much less police or an ambulance.
posted by Countess Elena at 7:20 PM on March 29, 2017 [3 favorites]

What was the Keys' *best* murder in decades?
posted by Chrysostom at 7:21 PM on March 29, 2017 [5 favorites]

What was the Keys' *best* murder in decades?

i've found reenacted footage
posted by indubitable at 7:53 PM on March 29, 2017 [2 favorites]

I live in the Virgin Islands, and know of people who have found square grouper - pounds of pure coke - it's not uncommon. You only hear the bad stories. It's no joke, and this story is completely not surprising. "Over their head" indeed. I wouldn't wish that kind of fate on anyone.
posted by Bohemian Sailor at 8:17 PM on March 29, 2017

That's a heavy dilemma if you're just scraping by and/or have a hard job. I'd like to think I'd call the police but there are a lot of factors that go into that decision.
posted by AFABulous at 9:09 PM on March 29, 2017 [4 favorites]

Was there a change in the meaning behind "square grouper?" I've always thought of it as marijuana, not cocaine.
posted by stannate at 9:15 PM on March 29, 2017 [1 favorite]

I've read some version of this story in a few different crime novels, I think. Must be the source material.
posted by jonmc at 4:27 AM on March 30, 2017

Could be straight off the pages Carl Hiassen novel.
posted by gnutron at 5:45 AM on March 30, 2017 [3 favorites]

Chrysostom: What was the Keys' *best* murder in decades?

The Bertie Higgins Massacre of '83 is a tough act to follow.
posted by dr_dank at 6:22 AM on March 30, 2017

I lived and worked in the Keys in the 80s. I knew several people who found square groupers and could spot others; just head in to any fisherman bar or nightclub and there would always be a few gnarly fisherman types...then you notice the six figure Rolex on their wrists and usually a monster truck in the lot. Those didn't come from any grouper....

I also hired a guy once who, six months later, was busted for the largest cocaine haul in Monroe County history. But that's another story....

Yeah, bales used to wash up all the time in the Keys. Word was that in the 80s there were regular patrols and if a runner (even the guys in the big Cigarette boats doing shore runs) ever saw vector convergence on their radars, everything went overboard. Cost of doing business I guess....
posted by CrowGoat at 8:44 AM on March 30, 2017 [1 favorite]