U.S. Customs records largest cocaine seizure in its history
Last week’s cocaine seizure in Philadelphia, nearly 20 tons, is the largest in the history of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, officials announced.
“Today, I can officially report that CBP has seized a historic amount of cocaine, in fact, the largest cocaine seizure in our 230-year history, with a weight of 39,525 pounds and a street value of about $1.3 billion dollars,” Casey Durst, the agency’s director of field operations in Baltimore, said Tuesday.
The drugs were seized June 17 from the MSC Gayane, a 1,030-foot Liberian-flagged container ship.
“This is a momentous accomplishment for the CBP team here in Philadelphia – and highlights the importance of our critical homeland security mission,” Durst said.
Once all of the ship’s containers have been removed, officials will examine other spaces in the vessel.
The multi-agency team initially detected anomalies in seven shipping containers the evening of June 16 that CBP X-ray examination confirmed June 17.
Patrick Varine is a TribLive reporter covering Delmont, Export and Murrysville. He is a Western Pennsylvania native and joined the Trib in 2010 after working as a reporter and editor with the former Dover Post Co. in Delaware. He can be reached at pvarine@triblive.com.
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