US Attorney William M. McSwain announced that US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) executed a seizure warrant obtained by the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and seized the cargo vessel MSC Gayane as being subject to possible forfeiture to the US.
On June 17, 2019, federal, state, and local law enforcement agents boarded the MSC Gayane when it arrived at Packer Marine Terminal in Philadelphia, seizing 19.76 tons of cocaine. Since then, crew members of the MSC Gayane have been charged with knowingly and intentionally conspiring with each other and others to possess over five kilograms of cocaine on board a vessel subject to the jurisdiction of the US.
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Due to this seizure, the MSC Gayane has been placed under the custody of CBP, in which it will remain until further proceedings or Order of the Court.
US Attorney McSwain, stated:
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
In addition, according to Casey Durst, 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 and follows the record seizure of almost 20-tons of cocaine discovered on the vessel.
The case is being investigated by the US Customs and Border Protection and Homeland Security Investigations, along with a multi-agency team of federal, state, and local partners.
