(WHDH) — Authorities seized 3,200 pounds of cocaine worth $77 million after it was found stashed inside a shipping container at the Port of Newark last month, officials said.
An examination of a shipping container entering the United States revealed sixty packages containing a white powdery substance that field-tested positive for cocaine, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
The bust, which involved the Coast Guard, Homeland Security, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and New York police, marked the second-largest cocaine seizure at the port and the largest in 25 years.
“This is a significant seizure, in fact, it is the largest cocaine seizure at the Port of New York/Newark since May 1994” New York Field Operations Director Troy Miller said in a press release. “The ongoing partnership between CBP, USCG, HSI, DEA, NYPD, and NYSP continues to produce results that protect the American public. This interception prevents a massive quantity of drugs from getting to the streets and in the hands of our children.”
A U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman says the container was recovered from a ship that originated in South America.
The cocaine has since been turned over to Homeland Security for further investigation.
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