Square grouper

Bales of marijuana recovered from the ocean by crew of USCGC Pike after smugglers "began throwing them overboard as they fled" interdiction

Locations on the coast of Florida where 400 pounds (180 kg) of marijuana was seized by U.S. Customs and the Coast Guard in a single month in 2016, who advised the public "If you are out on a boat or on the beach and you see a suspicious package, call local law enforcement immediately."

Square grouper is a slang term for compressed bales of illicit marijuana that appear on the U.S. Gulf Coast, sometimes lost by smugglers in errant air drops or sea to sea transfers, and sometimes intentionally dumped by crews who fear being caught with illegal drugs.

In popular culture

• A tiki restaurant in the Florida Keys is named Square Grouper, as is another restaurant in Jupiter, Florida, on the Treasure Coast.
• A 2011 documentary, Square Grouper: The Godfathers of Ganja, by Billy Corben, concerns drug smuggling.

References

Sources

• Mueller, Gerhard O. W.; Adler, Freda (1985). Outlaws of the Ocean: The Complete Book of Contemporary Crime on the High Seas. Hearst Marine Books. p. 50. ISBN 0688041701.
• O'Halloran, Jacinta (2007). Florida 2008 – Fodor's Florida. Fodor's travel guides. Fodor's Travel. p. 473. ISBN 978-1400017966. a square grouper is the moniker for bales of marijuana dropped into the ocean off the coast during the drug-running 1970s
• Victor, Terry; Dalzell, Tom (2007). The Concise New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English. Routledge. p. 614. ISBN 978-1134615346.
• McBride, Tim; Berrier, Ralph Jr. (2015). Saltwater Cowboy: The Rise and Fall of a Marijuana Empire. St. Martin's Publishing Group. p. 41. ISBN 978-1466882386. square grouper became code over the radio for those bales that never made it aboard our boat or fell off during the voyage back to shore.
• Stivers, Valerie; Zona, Hank (January 13, 2023). "Why Laid-Back Travelers Love Florida's Treasure Coast". The Wall Street Journal. [W]aterside tiki bar the Square Grouper is kitschy but fun—its name is '80s slang for a bale of marijuana that washes up onshore.
• Howe, Jim (2018). Red Crew: Fighting the War on Drugs with Reagan's Coast Guard. Naval Institute Press. pp. 62–63. ISBN 978-1682473023.
• McIver, Stuart B. (2001). Touched by the Sun – Volume 3 of Florida chronicles. Pineapple Press. p. 90. ISBN 1561642061.
• Information Services Latin America (addendum), vol. 58, Information Services on Latin America (ISLA), October 26, 2002, Smugglers in boat dump marijuana and flee
• Guides, Fodor's Travel (2019). Fodor's Florida. Fodor's Travel. ISBN 978-1640971691. www.mynewjoint420lounge.com, Square Grouper (seafood) ... in an unassuming warehouse-looking building on U.S. 1...
• Saltz, Rachel (April 14, 2011), "Adventures in the Drug Trades", The New York Times (movie review)
• Norman, Lianna (February 3, 2023). "Jupiter's most famous waterfront bar turns 20 in 2023. Here are 5 things to know about it". The Palm Beach Post.

Further reading

• Cohen, Travis (April 17, 2018), "The Insane History of Marijuana in Florida", Miami New Times