Since the 1990s, cocaine has been one of New York’s greatest adversaries. On February 28, 2019, officials seized 3,200 pounds of cocaine at the New York/Newark shipping port.

The drug, which was stored in 60 burlap sacks along with various containers of dried fruit, was found in an abandoned shipping container. In total, the cocaine is estimated to have a street value of 77 million dollars. This is the largest drug bust at the port since 1994, when 6,600 pounds of cocaine were seized, according to a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Spokesperson.

CBP has turned over the cocaine to the Homeland Security Investigations agency, however there is currently no evidence showing where the shipping container was traveling to. However, the shipment, which originated in Buenaventura, Colombia is thought to have been headed to supply a drug market spanning from Washington DC to Maine. All that is known about the matter is that the container came from outside the United States, and there are no details regarding possible people involved.

Director of New York field operations for U.S. Customs, Troy Miller, has stated that the bust prevented a “massive quantity of drugs from getting on the streets and in the hands of our children.”

The other departments involved in the seizure included the New York Police Department, U.S. Coast Guard, Drug Enforcement Administration, and the New York State Police.