Federal authorities have upped the amount of cocaine they say they've seized from a ship at the Philadelphia port to more than 35,000 pounds, or 15,876 kilograms.
They said Friday it's the largest cocaine haul in the history of U.S. Customs. They put the street value of the drugs at $1.1 billion.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection says the investigation has now resulted in a total of six arrests. The arrests of two crew members were announced Tuesday.
Agents are still inspecting containers aboard the MSC Gayane, which was flying under a Liberian flag.
Authorities first boarded the ship Sunday night and began a full investigation Monday.
Under heavy security, federal agents lined the foyer of Philadelphia's Custom House with thousands of pounds of seized cocaine ahead of a briefing on the ongoing investigation.
The U.S. attorney's office in Philadelphia announced the massive bust on Twitter on Tuesday afternoon.
U.S. Attorney William McSwain said in a tweet that so much cocaine "could kill millions - MILLIONS - of people."
The drug seizure is the latest in a series of large cocaine busts along the East Coast.
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This is one of the largest drug seizures in United States history. This amount of cocaine could kill millions – MILLIONS – of people. My Office is committed to keeping our borders secure and streets safe from deadly narcotics. https://t.co/nWPfgpGqYa
— US Attorney William M. McSwain (@USAttyMcSwain) June 18, 2019
*BREAKING NEWS* Federal authorities have seized approximately 16.5 TONS of cocaine from a large ship at the Packer Marine Terminal in Philadelphia. This is the largest drug seizure in the history of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. @ICEgov @CBPMidAtlantic @PhillyPolice @USCG
— U.S. Attorney EDPA (@USAO_EDPA) June 18, 2019
