The cocaine shipment from Colombia is the second largest seized at the Port of New York and New Jersey in 25 years.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced Monday its second-largest cocaine seizure at the Port of New York and New Jersey in 25 years.
On Feb. 28, federal and New York state law enforcement agencies zeroed in on a suspicious container, which was found to contain 3,200 pounds of cocaine with an estimated street value of $77 million. The last time that a cocaine shipment of this size was seized at the port occurred in May 1994, said Troy Miller, CBP’s director of New York field operations, in a statement.
According to The New York Times, the container, which originated in Buenaventura, Colombia, and was manifested as containing dried fruit, arrived in Newark on board the MSC Carlotta.
CBP officers seized the illicit drugs and turned them over to agents at Homeland Security Investigations for further investigations.
The agency also noted that the U.K.’s National Crime Agency played a role in the interception.
