- 20 ton cocaine was seized by federal authorities at the Port of Philadelphia last year.
- Aleksandar Kavaja, 27, an electrician pleads guilty to narcotics conspiracy charges.
- He admits playing a role in the smuggling of the cocaine.
- He and three other crew mates aboard the MSC Gayane were recruited by drug smugglers in their native country before the ship set out on its journey.
- His plea agreement did not include requirements that he cooperate with the ongoing probe.
Crew mate aboard 20-ton cocaine cargo ship admits role in record $1 billion Philly port drug bust, says a news report in the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Largest cocaine bust
His guilty plea is the latest sign of progress in an international investigation into one of the largest cocaine busts in U.S. history.
Since the June 17, 2019, discovery, the probe has spanned from the Packer Avenue Marine Terminal in South Philadelphia to southern Europe and South and Central America.
But after announcing the record haul at a splashy news conference where law enforcement officials posed for photos next to stacks of cocaine worth an estimated $1 billion, the investigation has largely proceeded out of public view.
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Crew arrested
At least seven of the Gayane’s crew of roughly 20 were arrested at the time.
Though most of the court filings in their cases remain under court seal.
And families of the men, from Montenegro and Samoa, have reported difficulty finding out what has happened to their loved ones since they were booked into the Federal Detention Center in Philadelphia over a year ago.
The public court hearing
Appearing in a public court hearing for the first time since his arrest last year, Kavaja responded Thursday to a series of routine questions from U.S. District Judge Harvey Bartle III in clipped, accented English.
He said, the drug smugglers who recruited Kavaja in the Balkan nation put him in a tough spot.
Attonery’s view point
His attorney, Andres Jalon, declined to discuss the specifics of how his client had become involved in the smuggling effort, citing fear of retribution against his client and his family in Montenegro.
“They knew he was going to be on this boat [and] he was approached to do this,” Jalon said. “If he says yes, he has to be out there on the ocean with them for six months and do what they say. If he says no, he’s still going to be out there on the boat with them. They’d throw him over the side. Where’s he going to go?”
Deadly role of other crew members
Other crew members have said they were paid at least 50,000 euros (roughly $55,000) to join in the smuggling effort, according to sealed court filings from last year obtained by The Inquirer.
They used burner phones to communicate with drug suppliers in South America and coordinated the loading of the drugs from speedboats that approached the cargo vessel several times under cover of night.
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Source: The Philadelphia Inquirer
