Thursday, March 21, 2019
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — U.S. customs officials say drug dogs have sniffed out Philadelphia’s largest seizure of cocaine in more than two decades inside a shipping container.
Local, state and federal law enforcement officials said today 450 bricks of cocaine were found inside 13 duffel bags. Joseph Martella, director, Customs and Border Protection’s Area Port for Philadelphia, says investigators on Tuesday seized more than 1,185 pounds of cocaine worth more than $38 million inside the bags sitting on top of containers of liquid rubber.
Martella says the ship was ported in Guatemala before stopping in the Bahamas and was destined for the Netherlands. He says it wasn’t clear where the cocaine was headed or where it was added to the shipment.
It was Philadelphia’s largest seizure since 1998.