Biggest Cocaine Seizure in Philadelphia International Airport History
By Tim Jimenez and Todd Quinones
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Authorities call it the largest cocaine seizure ever recorded in Philadelphia International Airport history: 130 pounds of cocaine found in three unclaimed duffel bags over the weekend.
Investigators are trying to track down who is responsible for leaving the bags in customs unattended.
"All the passengers from the flight from the Dominican Republic had left the federal inspection station. These three bags were left behind. They were left behind for a reason," said U.S. Customs and Border Protection Public Affairs Officer Steve Sapp.
It was a drug-sniffing dog that confirmed the officer's suspicions.
He says what started out as a typical bag inspection by officers on Sunday turned into an historic discovery in the three duffel bags arriving on a flight from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
The question is why anyone would try to smuggle so much cocaine at one time, only to seemingly abandon it.
"We do know that narcotics networks do tend to probe, trying to find out where they can get their narcotics through. This is a rather large cocaine shipment for just a simple probe, but we don't know. That is all part of the investigation. We are hoping to find out why," Sapp said.
He says the 130 pounds found at the airport surpasses the previous record of 55 pounds found over a decade ago.
And Sapp says they are still investigating, but no arrests have been made.
