Record cocaine bust in Philadelphia nets $18 million worth of product
The drugs were on a ship traveling from Colombia to Europe.
Authorities seized at least 450 kilograms of cocaine at the Port of Philadelphia on Tuesday morning, according to a source familiar with the massive drug bust.
Bricks of the white powdery substance were stuffed in duffel bags found in a shipping container aboard the MSC Desiree, which was traveling from Colombia to Europe, the source told ABC News.
![](https://s.abcnews.com/images/US/coke-duffel-bags-ho-mo-20190320_hpMain_4x3_992.jpg)
Federal and local authorities inspected the container after noticing the bolts on the door had been tampered with, the source said.
The total amount of cocaine, approximately 992 pounds, has a street value of about $18 million, and is the most ever seized in Philadelphia, according to the source.
![](https://s.abcnews.com/images/US/cocaine-seizure-philly-ho-mo-20190320_hpMain_4x3t_992.jpg)
Last week, authorities confiscated 3,200 pounds of cocaine, with a street value of $77 million, that had been hidden behind boxes of dried fruit aboard a cargo ship at the Port of New York and New Jersey. It was the largest coke bust at the port in a quarter century.
Federal agents have been paying closer attention to tampered shipping containers as cocaine makes a comeback amid rising crop production in Colombia, which is no longer eradicating coca plants, the source told ABC News.