- US authorities seized 16.5 tons of cocaine worth more than $1 bn at Philadelphia port.
- A television footage identified the ship to be MSC Gayane and online ship trackers say it sails under the flag of Liberia.
- In Philadelphia, 538 kg of cocaine were seized in March and at the Port of New York and New Jersey in February, 1,451 kg of cocaine worth of $77 m was seized.
US authorities seized more than $1 billion worth of cocaine from a ship at a Philadelphia port, on 18 June 2019, reports The Guardian.
About the incident
The US authorities, seized cocaine worth $1 bn from MSC Gayane, according to a television footage. The authorities commented that it was one of the largest drug busts in American history.
This drug bust is the latest in a series of seizures along the east coast.
Online ship trackers said it sails under the flag of Liberia and arrived in Philadelphia on 17 June 2019, after 5 am.
How much cocaine was confiscated?
The US attorney’s office in Philadelphia announced the massive bust on Twitter on Tuesday afternoon.
The officials said that a cocaine stash of about 16.5 tons (15 metric tons) was confiscated from a large ship at the Packer Marine Terminal.
Crew arrested
Members of the crew were arrested and face federal charges.
US attorney William McSwain said that , “This amount of cocaine could kill millions — MILLIONS — of people,” in a separate tweet.
Series of cocaine busts along the East Coast
This drug seizure is the latest in a series of large cocaine busts along the east coast. Drug dogs sniffed out 538 kg (1.1851 lbs) of cocaine in Philadelphia, this March.
The cocaine was at a value of $38 m and this seizure happened to be the city’s largest drug seizure in more than two decades.
The customs, in February, seized 1,451 kg (3,200 lbs) of cocaine worth of $77 m at the Port of New York and New Jersey. That was the largest cocaine bust at the ports since 1994.
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Source: The Guardian
