The crew of containership MSC Gayane have been sentenced to an aggregate of more than 40 years for attempting to smuggle cocaine worth over $1 billion into the United States two years ago, reports Freight Waves.
Most audacious drug-smuggling operation in history
Bosko Markovic began working for ocean carrier Mediterranean Shipping Co. (MSC) in 2008.
Over the next 11 years, the Montenegrin worked his way up to the position of chief mate, second in command behind the master, with an annual salary of $108,000.
That wasn’t enough money for him, according to prosecutors from the U.S Department of Justice. “Motivated by profit and greed,” they said, Markovic attempted to use his management role aboard the container ship MSC Gayane to help pull off one of the largest and most audacious drug-smuggling operations in history.
‘Astronomical’ quantity of drugs Markovic and three other conspirators from Montenegro boarded the vessel and recruited four additional seafarers.
That brought the drug gang to eight, more than a third of the crew of 22.
Narco phones for communication
Markovic communicated with co-conspirators on land using special “narco phones.”
Markovic, who had a lead role in the smuggling operation on the ship, as well as the three others he came aboard with, communicated with co-conspirators on land using special “narco phones.”
The MSC Gayane was met by speedboats at night on multiple occasions off the coast of South America during a voyage in 2019.
The eight members of the smuggling ring loaded duffel bags full of cocaine bricks onto the vessel using the ship’s crane.
Markovic, as chief mate, was in charge of the cargo plan, and picked seven specific containers full of legitimate cargo to hide the cocaine in. Fake seals were used to reseal the boxes.
Largest cocaine seizure
20 tons of cocaine found aboard, the largest cocaine seizure in the 230-year history of CBP.
When authorities raided the ship upon its arrival at Packer Marine Terminal in Philadelphia on June 17, 2019, they found 20 tons of cocaine aboard.
“This was the largest cocaine seizure in the 230-year history of U.S. Customs and Border Protection [CBP],” said prosecutors, adding, “The sheer quantity of drugs involved in this case is astronomical.”
- The MSC Gayane is a 2018-built “Neopanamax”-class container ship with a capacity of 11,600 twenty-foot-equivalent units that is leased to MSC and owned by a fund linked to J.P. Morgan.
- It is currently valued at around $100 million. The seized cocaine was valued at $1 billion — 10 times more than the ship.
5 crew sentenced so far
All eight conspirators pleaded guilty. Markovic was sentenced most recently, on Thursday.
Prosecutors said during the hearing that Markovic expected to be paid more than $1 million for his role overseeing the smuggling operation.
Markovic received a sentence of seven years, the longest handed down so far in the case.
MSC asserted in a letter filed in the Markovic docket, “The Gayane incident is an undeserved and unwanted stain on [the employees’] record. The company and everyone in it are victims.”
The latest judgement on Markovic brings the total MSC Gayane sentences to just under 28 years.
There are three sentences remaining, for Montenegrins Ivan Durasevic, second mate; Nenad Ilic, engineer cadet; and Aleksandar Kavaja, electrician. Durasevic and Ilic are scheduled to be sentenced on July 7, Kavaja on Aug. 2.
Based on past prison terms, the aggregate crew sentences will exceed four decades and could approach five decades.
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Source: Freight Waves
