$1 billion worth of cocaine seized in record Philadelphia bust, feds say
PHILADELPHIA - Federal authorities intercepted a record 16.5 tons of cocaine onboard a ship at the port of Philadelphia Tuesday afternoon, officials said.
The drugs have a street value of $1 billion, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
It's a record seizure for the Eastern District — one of the nation's largest districts, encompassing 4,700 square miles within nine counties.
Members of the ship's crew have been arrested and federally charged as the investigation continues, authorities said. The vessel they were on was described as a "large ship" at the Packer Marine Terminal in South Philadelphia.
The seizure dwarfs a March 19 bust of nearly 1,000 pounds of cocaine that had been a record for the city of Philadelphia. The drugs removed from a container ship on its way from Colombia to Europe had a value of around $15 million, authorities said.
*BREAKING NEWS* Federal authorities have seized approximately 16.5 TONS of cocaine from a large ship at the Packer Marine Terminal in Philadelphia. This is the largest drug seizure in the history of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. @ICEgov @CBPMidAtlantic @PhillyPolice @USCG
— U.S. Attorney EDPA (@USAO_EDPA) June 18, 2019
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This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: $1 billion worth of cocaine seized in record Philadelphia bust, feds say