$38M Cocaine Seizure Was Philly's Biggest In 21 Years: Feds

PHILADELPHIA — Federal authorities released the total amount of cocaine seizure and its street value at a Philadelphia seaport Tuesday, March 19.

Customs and Border Protection officials said 1,185 pounds of cocaine destined to Europe from Guatemala valued at $38 million was seized at the port.

Officials said this is the largest seizure in Philadelphia in 21 years, with the last seizure of this magnitude being a 1,945-pound cocaine seizure on May 23, 1998.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), U.S. Coast Guard, Coast Guard Investigative Service, Philadelphia Police Department, Delaware State Police, Pennsylvania State Police, Nether Providence Police Department, the Office of the Attorney General Bureau of Narcotics Investigation, and the DEA’s Philadelphia Division all participated in the seizure.

Officials said authorities discovered 13 large black duffel bags in one of the containers offloaded from the MSC Desiree contained a combined 450 bricks of a white powdery substance. A sampling of that substance tested positive for cocaine.

The cocaine weighed 537.6 kilograms, or 1,185 pounds, three ounces, and has a street value approximately $38 million.

CBP officers seized the cocaine. HSI is investigating.

"Taking a half-ton of dangerous drugs out of circulation is a significant success for this collective team of federal, state and local law enforcement officers who work very hard every day to keep people safe,” said Casey Durst, CBP’s Director of Field Operations in Baltimore. “Customs and Border Protection remains committed to working with our law enforcement partners and to disrupting narcotics smuggling attempts at the Area Port of Philadelphia.”

This is CBP’s fourth largest cocaine seizure in the Area Port of Philadelphia, and the largest since a 1,945-pound cocaine seizure May 23, 1998.

The shipping container commodity was natural rubber.