United States Attorney William M. McSwain revealed that Vladimir Penda, 27, of the nation of Montenegro, got in an appeal of guilty prior to United States District Court Judge Harvey Bartle III on costs of conspiracy theory to have with intent to disperse 5 kgs or even more of drug on a vessel based on the territory of the United States.
In 2019, Penda, a team participant that functioned onboard the delivery vessel MSC Gayane as the ship’s 4th designer, conspired with others to participate in mass drug contraband. On numerous events throughout the MSC Gayane’s trip mixed-up, team participants, consisting of Penda, assisted tons mass drug onto the vessel from speedboats that came close to under cover of darkness, taking a trip at broadband. Crew participants made use of the Gayane’s crane to raise freight internet loaded with drug onto the vessel and afterwards tucked away the medications in different delivery containers.
On June 17, 2019, government, state, as well as regional police officer boarded the MSC Gayane when it reached Packer Marine Terminal in Philadelphia as well as took around 20 lots of drug on the ship, with a road worth of over $1 billion. This was among the biggest medication seizures in UNITED STATE background.
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“Federal agents found nearly 20 tons of cocaine hidden on this ship when it arrived in the port of Philadelphia in June 2019,” stated UNITED STATE Attorney McSwain. “Over the past year, prosecutors in my Office, in conjunction with our partner agencies, have been working non-stop to pursue justice in this case in order to protect our district and our country. We want to send a strong message to criminals around the world that Philadelphia is not a safe harbor for their deadly drug trafficking.”
“Mr. Penda’s guilty plea is a testament to Homeland Security Investigations commitment to holding all those involved in the transnational drug smuggling investigation aboard the MSC Gayane accountable,” stated Brian A. Michael, Special Agent in Charge for HSIPhiladelphia “HSI, in collaboration with CBP, the Coast Guard, and our other federal, state and local law enforcement partners, are committed to the detection and disruption of transnational drug smuggling, and will continue to work in concert with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania to keep our communities safe.”
The accused encounters an optimum feasible sentence of life time jail time.
The situation is being examined by Homeland Security Investigations as well as the United States Customs as well as Border Protection, along with a multi-agency group of government, state, as well as regional companions.
Reference: justice.gov
