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Customs seizes 363 lbs of cocaine at Port of Philly

Drugs were hidden in boxes of fruit and squash

A SHIPPING container seized by customs agents last week at the Port of Philadelphia contained Costa Rican pumpkins, fruit . . . and 363 pounds of cocaine.

The drugs, with a street value of more than $6 million, were packaged in 384 thin slits laminated to the inside flaps of the fruit case boxes. The container of fruit was brought to port by the M/V Santa Maria, and was meant to travel to a distributor in the Bronx, federal officials said.

During a routine inspection of the shipping container, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers found the packages of drugs. The 363-pound haul is the eighth largest cocaine seizure in the Port of Philadelphia.

The customs agents partnered with officers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations and the Drug Enforcement Administration, and will jointly investigate the crime with them.

No arrests have been made in the case, but officers suspect that the Santa Maria's crew was not to blame.

"We're talking about fruit boxes that had the flaps already laminated with the packets inside," said Steve Sapp, a CBP spokesman. "That's a lot of work for someone to do, and that's generally done well before it even reaches the ship."

Agents suspect that the Santa Maria was a "target of opportunity" for smugglers.

"Generally, these guys don't know what's in the containers," Sapp said.

The investigation is ongoing.

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