Federal agents discovered a large scale cocaine shipment of 20 tons worth 1. billion dollars on a ship owned by JP Morgan Assets.
The feds have now seized the ship and if let to stand will sell it and pocket the money. And it doesn’t matter if JP Morgan knew of the smuggling or not. It is the largest seizure in history. No word on the value of the ship.
No doubt, this will go to court for a final decision. The amount of cocaine seized is also an all-time record.
The seizure took place this week when the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania announced that U.S. Customs and Border Protection formally seized the MSC Gayane, after prosecutors filed a series of court documents. The ship is owned by JP Morgan Asset Management and chartered to the container ship operator MSC, The Wall Street Journal reported.
“A seizure of a vessel this massive is complicated and unprecedented – but it is appropriate because the circumstances here are also unprecedented. We found nearly 20 tons of cocaine hidden on this ship,” said U.S. Attorney William McSwain. “When a vessel brings such an outrageous amount of deadly drugs into Philadelphia waters, my Office and our agency partners will pursue the most severe consequences possible against all involved parties in order to protect our district – and our country.”
The seizure comes weeks after a June 17 raid on board the ship when federal state and local authorities found 19.76 tons of cocaine, Breitbart News reported. The ship is the largest of its kind ever seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection in the agency’s history, the amount of seized drugs is also considered record-setting.
The ship initially sailed from Chile and had stopped at Peru, Panama, and the Bahamas before sailing to Philadelphia. Authorities arrested and charged eight of the crew members with drug trafficking conspiracy, while the investigation is ongoing. The men are described as Serbian and Samoan.