© AFP / Dominick ReuterThe seized MSC Gayane cargo ship.
They are still considering whether to pursue civil or criminal forfeiture of the ship, MSC 'Gayane,' which is now cruising toward the Netherlands.
US attorney William McSwain wrote on Twitter: "My office secured $10 million in cash and a $40 million surety bond from the owner and operator of the vessel in exchange for its temporary release pending a final resolution in this case."
The boat's operator, Switzerland-based Mediterranean Shipping (MSC), and its registered owner, Bermuda-based Meridian 7, had argued that leaving the 'Gayane' anchored in the Delaware River posed an "extreme commercial prejudice and... hardship" to their operations.
The ship, which was built in 2018 and flew under the flag of Liberia, had traveled through South America and the Bahamas before arriving in Philadelphia, according to the ship-tracking website marinetraffic.com.
© ReutersSome of the cocaine seized on the MSC Gayane in Philadelphia, US.
The vessel was seized last month with nearly 20 tons of cocaine on board worth $1.3 billion. The massive cocaine loot was hidden in shipping containers carrying legitimate goods, such as wine, Chilean dried nuts, and scrap metal from the United Arab Emirates.
According to CBP's director of field operations in Baltimore, "the MSC 'Gayane' is the largest vessel seized in US Customs and Border Protection's 230-year history."
It was the second MSC ship raided in Philadelphia this year in a drug case. In March, nearly 1,200 pounds of cocaine were discovered onboard the MSC 'Desiree,' a similar-size vessel to the 'Gayane.'
Authorities said 1.6 tons of cocaine were seized in February on another MSC vessel, the 'Carlotta,' as it entered the Port of Newark, New Jersey.
Reader Comments
Gov't goons routinely exercise "asset forfeiture" on the property of "regular" citizens with literally zero evidence of a crime having been committed. Yet, when a vessel owned by well-connected companies/people, i.e., JP Morgan (one of many large financial institutions who have clearly bought the regulators and many in the political class), is clearly connected with criminal activity, the property (i.e., the ship) is allowed to sail on its merry way.
Sure is nice to "own" the politicians and those controlling the so-called US "justice" system.
In the old days they probably only needed to deposit $5 million with the Clinton Foundation to avoid the hassle of the seizure in the first place
Also note that this article refers to the same seizure but now states - nearly 1,200 pounds of cocaine were discovered
There are 2000 pounds in a Ton ... so how does 16.5 Tons suddenly become less that 1 Ton
Sounds like the authorities do not want the public to realise that
JP MorganMSC are delivering regular 20 ton consignments of cocaine to the USAHigh times: $1bn worth of cocaine seized at Philadelphia port - That's 16.5 TONS!
In one of the biggest drug busts in the US history, 16.5 tons of cocaine have been found aboard a ship docked in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The street value of the haul is estimated at $1...The most likely explanation: They only need a token amount as evidence in order to secure a conviction, and 1200 lbs is plenty for that, and it is also large enough to impress a jury that this is "big time" drug trafficking. The rest is simply excess to their needs.
The remainder is simply funneled to the CIA, possibly other TLAs, and probably other local LE agencies for their own use. The CIA has been running drugs for decades in order to augment their official gov't budgets, fund many of their clandestine ops, and to use as payment for many of their overseas operatives who would be immediately compromised were they to receive payment in cash. Given the rampant corruption in almost all gov't agencies, one should not be surprised if organizations other than the CIA are profiting from "seized" drugs.
And yet there is blockage abnd diplomatic incident, in the strait of Gibraltar, and the strait of Hormus, concerning the transport of supposedly oil to Syria, which is another conundrum, I thought Syria had Oil supplies on it's own territory.
Ah! I forgot, the area of the vast oil supplies, it's in the hands of the coalition, that is what we are told.