Sheesh: Cops Seize 709 Pounds Of Cocaine In Philly From Puerto Rico
Damn, somebody has to be mad as hell right now.
Federal customs officers siezed 709 pounds of cocaine in Philadelphia, the biggest drug bust in 10 years.
According to Philly.com, officers with Customs and Border Protection came upon the drug-dealing drawer dividers while inspecting shipping containers at a Pennsauken, N.J., seaport on Nov. 2.
Weighing in at 709 pounds, authorities estimate the narcotics have a street value of $22 million.
"This seizure is an excellent example of how Customs and Border Protection officers leverage imaging technology to detect and intercept an immense amount of cocaine cleverly concealed in a shipment of furniture," said Casey
Owen Durst, Customs and Border Protection field operations director in Baltimore.
The shipment came from Puerto Rico, where Hurricane Irma has caused there to be flurry of port activity.
"Customs and Border Protection knows that transnational drug trafficking organizations will take advantage of natural disasters," said Joseph Martella, acting director of the Port of Philadelphia, "and in this case an island struggling to recover from a crippling hurricane, to smuggle dangerous drugs to our nation's mainland."
A smaller, second attempt at smuggling in drugs from the beleaguered archipelago was discovered just weeks after on Nov. 28, when authorities discovered 30 pounds of cocaine in a wooden chest. -(Brian Lisi, NY Daily News)