Authorities netted more than half a ton of cocaine from a shipping container at the Port of Philadelphia, authorities announced Thursday.
The bust happened Tuesday when authorities found 13 large duffle bags loaded with a combined 450 bricks of powdered cocaine inside the container, U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman Steve Sapp said in a news release.
The exact weight of the cocaine was 1,185 pounds, and its street value is estimated at $38 million, Sapp said.
The seizure was a multiagency effort involving the CBP, the Department of Homeland Security, the Philadelphia Police Department, Pennsylvania State Police and others.
"Taking a half-ton of dangerous drugs out of circulation is a significant success for this collective team of federal, state and local law enforcement officers who work very hard every day to keep people safe," CBP Director of Field Operations Casey Durst said in a statement.
The latest seizure was the CBP's largest cocaine bust at the Port of Philadelphia in 21 years and its fourth-largest ever, Sapp said. Homeland Security is now investigating the case.
