A ship with more than $1 billion in cocaine aboard – that was seized in Philadelphia on the Fourth of July – is owned by financial giant JPMorgan Chase, according to reports.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced on Monday that they discovered nearly 20 tons of cocaine — or nearly 40,000 pounds — inside several shipping containers aboard the MSC Gayane while it was docked in Philadelphia’s seaport on June 17.
The agency said an estimated $1.3 billion worth of cocaine was removed from the ship — making it the largest cocaine seizure EVER carried out by the CBP, adding:
“A seizure of a vessel this massive is complicated and unprecedented – but it is appropriate because the circumstances here are also unprecedented,” said William McSwain, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. “When a vessel brings such an outrageous amount of deadly drugs into Philadelphia waters, my office and our agency partners will pursue the most severe consequences possible against all involved parties in order to protect our district – and our country.”1
U.S. Attorney William McSwain said Customs and Border Protection officials obtained a warrant last Thursday and seized the MSC Gayaneon, finding the drugs. Casey Durst, Director of Operations for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said in a news release that the MSC Gayane is the largest vessel ever to be seized in the agency’s 230-year history.
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Law enforcement agents evidentally boarded the ship back on June 17 and found the cocaine which is said to have a street value of $1.3 billion. Durst described the magnitude of the seizure, saying:
“Laid end-to-end, all the bricks would cover a distance of about 2.5 miles.”1
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The real twist to the story is the fact that the MSC Gayane is owned by JPMorgan Chase. The ship is operated by Swiss-based Mediterranean Shipping Co., according to a Markets Insider report.
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Reports indicate that JPMorgan Chase, with total assets of over $2.5 trillion, has not yet commented on the case.
Federal prosecutors are working with the CBP, the U.S. Coast Guard, Homeland Security Investigations, and state and local law enforcement to investigate who played a role in an alleged conspiracy by crewmembers and others to smuggle the record load of drugs through the U.S.
What are your thoughts? Are the timing of the huge bust on the JPMorgan ship and Jeffrey Epstein’s arrest a coincidence, or are they somehow related?
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