Shortly after the MSC Gayane set sail for the Port of Philadelphia on June 16, a dozen armed US Customs and Border Patrol and other federal agents intercepted the ship. The bundles contained replacement seals, which they used to reseal shipping containers after packing them with drugs, the Journal said.Īfter two drug busts this year on MSC-owned boats that traveled similar routes, US authorities were on high alert. Under the cover of darkness, crew members used the ship's crane to bring onboard bales of cocaine wrapped in netting.
More than 10 boats twice pulled up alongside the container ship while it was sailing past South America, according to the Wall Street Journal, which interviewed people familiar with the investigation and reviewed parts of an affidavit provided by a federal agent. The MSC Gayane departed Chile on May 30 and passed through Peru, Panama, the Bahamas, and Delaware en route to Philadelphia, its final stopover before sailing to Europe. Fresh details about how smugglers loaded nearly 20 tons of cocaine worth an estimated $1 billion onto a ship owned by JPMorgan, and how US authorities discovered the drugs, have emerged.
