U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers have discovered 147 pounds (66kgs) of cocaine in a shipping container that arrived in Baltimore from Brazil.
Using non-intrusive imaging technologies the officers detected abnormalities in the container which was loaded with timber. The abnormalities were two gym bags, which were stuffed with 57 bricks of a white powdery substance. The powder was field tested, indicating a positive response for cocaine.
As large as this seizure is, it doesn’t beat Baltimore’s April 2007 haul of 310 pounds of cocaine which were, coincidentally, also packed into gym bags. These were concealed in a refrigerated shipping container from Ecuador.
This latest seizure of cocaine has a whopping street value of more than $4 million.
“Narcotics interdiction remains a top Customs and Border Protection enforcement priority, and this case illustrates how CBP officers leverage non-intrusive imaging technologies to intercept dangerous drugs and to help keep our communities safe,” said Dianna Bowman, CBP Area Port Director for the Port of Baltimore.
Source and image credit: www.cbp.gov
