$1 Billion Philly Coke Bust Largest in U.S. Customs History
A massive $1.1 billion cocaine bust at the Philadelphia seaport earlier this week was the largest such seizure in the 230-history of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, officials said Friday.
Six people were arrested and charged with violating federal narcotic smuggling laws, authorities said. They each face life in prison, according to U.S. Attorney William McSwain.
None of those arrested are American citizens, McSwain added.
An investigation remains ongoing.
"I have no doubt that our officers saved lives and significantly impacted transnational criminal organizations," Casey Durst, U.S. Customs and Border Protection director of field operations in Baltimore, Maryland, said.
Authorities first spotted "anamolies" while examining seven shipping containers aboard the MSC Gayane, a 1,030-foot Liberian-flagged vessel, Sunday night.
Monday afternoon, officials uncovered more than 17.5 tons of cocaine, including 15,582 bricks weighing more than 35,000 pounds. If laid out, the bricks would span more than 2 miles, officials said.
Sources told NBC10 the cocaine was not meant for Philadelphia but instead for the Netherlands and France.
"There were doses enough for two million different individuals," said James W. Carroll Jr., director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. "This could have killed thousands, and maybe millions, of people."
The bust occurred at the Packer Avenue Marine Terminal Port on the Delaware River in South Philadelphia. In addition to cocaine, containers were filled with wine, paperboard, vegetable extracts and dried nuts from all over the world.
They were destined for Ireland, Nigeria, South Africa, Lebanon, India and Haiti, officials said.
The records show that the Gayane's previous stops included Freeport, the Bahamas, on June 13, Cristobal, Panama, on June 9, Cristobal, Panama, on May 24 and Buenaventura, Colombia, on May 19.
Officials with Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement of the Department of Homeland Security, as well as the Drug Enforcement Administration are involved in the investigation, which one official described as "massive."
The ship's second mate, identified as Ivan Durasevic, allegedly admitted to "his role in bringing the cocaine onboard the vessel," a federal complaint said.
"Upon leaving Peru on this current voyage, he got a call from the Chief Officer to come down to the deck, at which time he saw nets on the port side stern by the ship's crane," the complaint said. "Durasevic and approximately four other individuals, some of whom were wearing ski masks, assisted in the pushing of the nets toward Hold Seven or Eight of the vessel."
He said, according to the complaint, that he was paid $50,000 by the chief officer, who has not been identified.
Another crew member, identified as Fonofaavae Tiasaga, also allegedly admitted to partaking in loading cocaine on the ship, including on a previous voyage, the complaint said.
"Prior to departing on the voyage, the ship's Electrician and the Chief Mate also approach Tiasaga and asked if he was willing to help again," the complaint states. "According to Tiasaga, each of these four crew members coordinated individual loads of cocaine."
At least twice while the ship was en route between stops in Chile and Panama, numerous smaller boats approached the Gayane at sea to hand off large bundles of cocaine, the complaint said.
None of the crew other than Durasevic and Tiasaga have been identified.
The Packer Avenue site is the largest along the Delaware River, where dockworkers unload huge container ships from overseas. Seven unloading cranes at the location owned by Holt Logistics rise along the river just south of the Walt Whitman Bridge. The shipyard has a capacity to unload 14,000 20-foot containers from cargo ships.
Photo Credit: NBC10
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from NBC New York - Top Stories http://bit.ly/2Y2DyZR
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