Associated Press
An officer stands guard over a fraction of the cocaine seized from a ship at a Philadelphia port that was displayed at the US Custom House in Philadelphia, Friday, June 21, 2019.
- We spoke to the author of "Narconomics" and other experts about the estimated $1 billion worth of cocaine found on a ship owned by JPMorgan.
- They said the drugs are probably worth less than $500 million, and the smugglers may have used a high-profile boat to avoid suspicion.
- The smugglers probably paid off authorities, and US officials potentially blew their chance to catch them by seizing the drugs in Philadelphia.
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An estimated $1 billion worth of cocaine was recently found on the MSC Gayane, a container ship operated by Mediterranean Shipping Co. and owned by JPMorgan. The boat was traveling from Chile to Europe and passed through the Bahamas, Panama, and Peru before docking in Philadelphia, where federal authorities found the drugs.
We reached out to the author of "Narconomics" and four other experts for their views on the high-profile bust, which we've laid out below.