Feds seize roughly 450 kilos of cocaine worth millions at Port of Philadelphia, sources say

Christie Ileto Image
Wednesday, March 20, 2019
Sources: Feds seize roughly 450 kilos of cocaine at Port of Philadelphia
Federal agents descended on the Port of Philadelphia seizing a massive amount of cocaine as reported by Christie Ileto during Action News at 11 on March 19, 2019.

PHILADELPHIA -- Federal agents descended on the Port of Philadelphia and seized a massive amount of cocaine on Tuesday morning, sources told Action News.

Exclusive video from Chopper 6 showed investigators swarming around cargo containers around 10:30 a.m.

Chopper 6 was over the Port of Philadelphia where sources say a massive cocaine bust could be the largest seizure in Philadelphia on March 19, 2019.

Sources said the feds seized 450 kilos of cocaine at the Port on board the Desiree. The drugs are valued at $27,000 per kilo.

Agents then took the seized cocaine to a warehouse to be processed.

Action News spoke with Michael Worthy, a recovering cocaine addict.

"To get a bust with that amount says it all. That shows you just how much cocaine is actually on the street," Worthy said. "In my experience, I've found if a person can't find heroin, or any other drug that is there, than they'll go to cocaine as a temporary substitute."

Britt James Carpenter, an outreach worker with Philly Unknown, said cocaine is flooding the market "a lot heavier these days."

"Because with the amount that's out there, they're able to cut it with fentanyl and cause a rash of overdoses that way," said

This was the second large narcotics bust at the Port of Philadelphia this month.

Weeks earlier, agents recovered 600 pounds of marijuana in a shipping container thanks to a drug-sniffing K-9.

614 pounds of marijuana seized at Port of Philadelphia. Watch this report from Action News at 4pm on March 12, 2019.

And last month, ICE confirmed it seized 3,200 pounds of cocaine at the Port of New York/Newark.''

DHS have not said if the bust at the Port of Philadelphia is connected, only telling Action News that the "case has just begun."

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