March 27, 1981 South Florida’s most talked about story The largest drug seizure in the history of South Florida 200 tons of panama red I was working for the Key West Citizen newspaper as a photographer at the time I got the call at 8 o’clock in the morning Lisa and I just got in from partying all night and photographing sunrise I was the first photographer on site at the Navy Yard hundreds and hundreds of 90 pound bales everywhere they actually had some of the prisoners from the County jail unloading the ship I shot a lot of great pictures that morning front page in three different newspapers high times magazine I am still making money with that photograph 40 years later to make a long story short before the ship got busted with 200 tons of incredible weed they probably threw overboard 50 tons every boat in the Florida Keys we’re out fishing that night and day Ha Ha and here’s the funniest part about the story Five tractor trailer trucks come down to Key West to pick up all the weed to bring it to the birthing facility one road out the trucks had police motorcycle escorts somehow they lost a truck my best friend Roger Bartel was the managing editor of the newspaper at the time We were hanging out in the office when he got the call true story Key West the way it was