Federal authorities say that they have made the biggest drug bust of the century so far at the Port of New York/Newark.
The drugs were discovered on February 28 when agents performed an examination on a shipping container full of dried fruit that was entering the U.S from the port in Buenaventura, Colombia. While examining the shipping container, agents discovered 60 packages of a white, powdery substance that was later determined to be cocaine.
A news release from U.S. Customs and Border Protection says that the weight of the seized drugs is 3,200 pounds. The estimated street value of the cocaine is $77,000,000, authorities say.
Border Patrol agents turned the cocaine over to Homeland Security Investigation to aid in their investigation into the incident.
No arrests have been made.
Authorities say that this is the largest cocaine seizure at the Port of New York/Newark since May 1994, when 6,400 pounds of cocaine were seized. It is the second largest cocaine seizure at the port in history.
Troy Miller, Director of New York Field Operations for U.S. Customs and Border Patrol said, “This interception prevents a massive quantity of drugs from getting to the streets and in the hands of our children.”
NYPD Commissioner James P. O’Neill said, “The proliferation of illegal drugs in New York City will never be tolerated, neither by law enforcement nor by the people we serve. The NYPD and its law enforcement partners remain committed to identifying and stopping all illegal narcotics by attacking their distribution networks on every level. Through significant seizures such as this, we will continue to make every neighborhood in our nation’s safest large city even safer.”
U. S. Customs and Border Protection, the U. S. Coast Guard, Homeland Security Investigations, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the New York Police Department, and the New York State Police all contributed to the investigation.