Law Enforcement Partners News

Unified Command dive teams have recovered the body of a missing person at the Key Bridge incident site in Baltimore.The recovered individual was identified as 38-year-old Maynor Yasir Suazo-Sandoval.Unified Command salvage dive teams located what they believed to be the missing construction worker and notified the Maryland Department of State Police. Maryland State Police Underwater Recovery Team deployed in coordination with dive teams from allied law enforcement partners and recovered Suazo-Sandoval.Maryland State Police investigators…

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) is warning criminals that their attempts to hide illicit drugs in the hull of cargo ships continues to be disrupted by law enforcement after another import was seized by authorities in Melbourne.Packages of cocaine concealed inside the sea chest of a cargo ship was seized after the vessel docked in Melbourne, the second attempted import of its kind in two months.Australian Border Force (ABF) used an underwater Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) at Melbourne's Appleton Dock to search a vessel…

Two seafarers have been brought up on charges for their alleged roles in smuggling cocaine into Western Australia on board a Marshall Islands-flagged bulk carrier.The men, both from Montenegro, were serving as master, 43, and chief engineer, 39, on board the 58,000-dwt supramax St Pinot. They have been charged with importing a commercial quantity of cocaine by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and are expected to face Perth Magistrates Court on Friday.Police allege the pair…

Australian authorities are reporting a record seizure of methylamphetamine after another metric ton of the illicit drug was discovered at Sydney's Port Botany.The development comes after detectives attached to the State Crime Command's Drug and Firearms Squad earlier this year commenced Strike Force Chellington to investigate the importation of illicit drugs into New South Wales.Acting on intelligence, Australian Border Force (ABF) officers examined a number of sea cargo containers, which had arrived into Port Botany last month.

On August 11, 2022, a federal grand jury in the District of Puerto Rico returned an indictment charging seven defendants with running a criminal enterprise dedicated to extorting and misleading shipping companies into paying fees for the loading and unloading of cargo at the Port of San Juan—Piers 9, 10, and 11—under the threat of strikes and blockades on the part of union members of the ILA-1740 of the International Longshoremen’s Association, AFL-CIO (ILA) and under false representations…

Australian law enforcement has seized 700 kilograms of cocaine from a Maersk containership at Sydney's Port Botany.The dugs were discovered by Australian Border Force (ABF) during a July 22 inspection of shipping containers on the Singapore-flagged Maersk Inverness, which had docked a day earlier. The haul was found packaged in denim bags inside a shipping container described as containing wood products.AFP investigators seized 28 denim bags, each holding about 25kg of cocaine in brick form.

Authorities intercepted a shipment of cocaine from a shipping container at Bell Bay near Georgetown, Tasmania on March 16.Tasmania Police and Australian Border Force (ABF) are working to identify the source of the 15-kilogram cocaine seizure, which was found in a refrigerated container originating from Sydney, Australia. A search was conducted in partnership with Tasmania Police detectives from Northern Drug Investigation Services and the Drug Dog Handler Unit. During the search…

More than 44 pounds of cocaine was seized from a Marshall Islands-flagged bull carrier anchored in the Chesapeake Bay near Annapolis, Md., on Wednesday.The drugs were discovered during an early morning examination by officers and agents from the DEA, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Coast Guard, and Maryland Department of Natural Resources Police aboard the 958-foot Samjohn Solidarity. The 20 bricks of cocaine found concealed inside the vessel’s anchor locker has a street value of more than $1 million.No arrests were made…

An Iraqi national has appeared in U.S. District Court in Savannah after his indictment on charges related to the attempted smuggling of firearms to Iraq.Nihad Al Jaberi, a Clarkston, Ga., resident, is charged with smuggling, failure to notify a common carrier and submitting false or misleading export information. The smuggling charge carries upon conviction a penalty of up to 10 years in prison and substantial financial penalties. There is no parole in the federal system.Al Jaberi, an Iraqi citizen and legal permanent resident of the United States, was arraigned last week.

Pacific Carriers Limited (PCL), a Singapore-based company that owns subsidiaries engaged in international shipping, was sentenced today in federal court before U.S. District Court Judge Louise Flanagan in New Bern, N.C., after pleading guilty to violations of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships, obstruction of justice, and for a failure to notify the U.S. Coast Guard of a hazardous condition on the cargo vessel Pac Antares.PCL pleaded guilty to a total of eight felony offenses across three judicial districts – the Eastern District of North Carolina, the Southern District of Texas, and the Eastern District of Louisiana. PCL was sentenced to pay a fine of $12 million…

U.S. authorities in San Juan, Puerto Rico seized $27 million of undeclared currency found inside boxes aboard a cargo ship bound for St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands.Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers seized the vacuum-sealed cash packs on board the vessel Norma H II during a joint investigation between CBP, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Puerto Rico on Saturday, officials said.CBP said one of its K-9 units discovered the cash in unmanifested palleted home moving boxes while inspecting outbound cargo on board the Togo-flagged vessel at Pier 10 in San Juan. A total of 34 cargo boxes containing $27 million was seized under failure to declare and bulk cash smuggling laws.

A crew member from the containership MSC Gayane pleaded guilty to cocaine trafficking stemming from a $1 billion bust in the Port of Philadelphia, one of the largest drug seizures in U.S. history.The 27-year-old Montenegrin Vladimir Penda entered a plea of guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Harvey Bartle III on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine on a vessel subject to U.S. jurisdiction, U.S. Attorney William M. McSwain announced Monday.

The owner and operator will pay a total criminal fine of $3,000,000.00.U.S. Attorney Gretchen Shappert for the District of the Virgin Islands announced that IONIAN SHIPPING & TRADING CORP., LILY SHIPPING LTD., STAMATIOS ALEKIDIS, ATHANASIOS PITTAS and REY ESPULGAR have been convicted and sentenced for various pollution, recordkeeping, and obstruction of justice crimes on the Motor Tanker (“M/T”) Ocean Princess in St. Croix, U.S.V.I. The defendants’ conduct included using fuel that exceeded the maximum allowable sulfur concentration in the U.S. Caribbean Emission Control Area (“U.S.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) Area Port of Philadelphia seized the MSC Gayane Thursday following a record seizure of 20 tons of cocaine on June 17.Upon application from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania issued a seizure warrant for the vessel.On Thursday, July 4, CBP executed the warrant and seized the MSC Gayane. CBP has various seizure and forfeiture authorities under Title 19 of the United States Code (USC).“The MSC Gayane is the largest vessel seized in U.S.

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations (HSI)-led multi-agency examination of shipping containers at the Philadelphia seaport netted a historic load of cocaine, the largest cocaine seizure in the 230-year history of U.S. Customs and CBP, with an estimated weight of over 17.5 tons and a street value of about $1.1 billion.During a midstream joint boarding Sunday night, CBP, HSI, and U.S. Coast Guard authorities detected anomalies while examining seven shipping containers aboard the MSC Gayane…

The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Joseph Napier (WPC-1115) repatriated 22 of 25 Dominican migrants to a Dominican Republic Navy vessel Monday, following the interdiction of a makeshift boat Saturday, approximately 20 nautical miles northwest of Mona Island, Puerto Rico.Three of the interdicted migrants are facing possible federal prosecution by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Puerto Rico for illegally attempting to reenter the United States.The Coast Guard, and federal and Commonwealth of Puerto Rico law enforcement partners have interdicted more than 400 migrants and stopped several narcotics smuggling attempts since October of 2018."The migrants were attempting to make the transit across an ocean passage in a vessel that was inherently unsafe due to overloading…

The Coast Guard interdicted 66 migrants in the last 72-hours in five separate events near Puerto Rico.The Coast Guard, and federal and Commonwealth of Puerto Rico law enforcement partners have interdicted more than 380 migrants and stopped several narcotics smuggling attempts since October of 2018.“These recent migrant and drug interdiction cases, though smaller than what we see at our land borders, are a reminder of the constant threat toward the American citizens of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands,” said Rear Adm. Peter Brown, Coast Guard 7th District commander.

A Japanese shipping company will have to pay $1 million after being convicted and sentenced for obstruction of justice and falsification of an Oil Record Book to cover-up intentional pollution from bulk carrier M/V Atlantic Oasis.The company Nitta Kisen Kaisha Ltd., owner and operater of the Atlantic Oasis, admitted that its engineers failed to document the illegal discharge of oily wastes from the vessel’s fuel and lubrication oil purifier systems, as well as discharges of oily bilge waste from the bilge holding tank and from the vessel’s bilges when delivering steel products to Wilmington, N.C. in 2017.During a U.S. Coast Guard inspection of the vessel on May 17…

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Office of Field Operations, at the Charleston Seaport arrested a Goose Creek, S.C., woman on Wednesday who was wanted in connection with a local murder. The woman, destined to depart Charleston for the Bahamas on December 7, was the subject of an arrest warrant out of Berkeley County, S.C., for Obstructing Justice – Aiding and Abetting Murder. After verifying the individual’s identity and confirming the warrant, CBP officers, with assistance from South Carolina Ports Authority Police, arrested the individual and turned her over to the U.S. Marshals Service. “Intercepting dangerous criminals in…

The Coast Guard interdicted a vessel, Monday, with 35 Dominican migrants and 4 kilograms of heroin approximately 34 miles west of Desecheo, Puerto Rico.The crew of a Coast Guard Air Station Miami HC-144 Ocean Sentry, deployed to Air Station Borinquen, Puerto Rico, detected the vessel Monday evening. Watchstanders with Coast Guard Sector San Juan diverted the Coast Guard Cutter Heriberto Hernandez (WPC-1114), who arrived on scene, embarked the 35 migrants and discovered a backpack…

U.K. based marine services contractor Inchcape Shipping Services Holdings Limited and several of its subsidiaries have agreed to pay $20 million to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by knowingly overbilling the U.S. Navy under contracts for ship husbanding services, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.Inchcape provided goods and services, including food and other subsistence items, waste removal, telephone services, ship-to-shore transportation, force protection services and local transportation…

Wood Group PSN Inc., a Nevada corporation headquartered in Houston, was ordered to pay $9.5 million in two separate cases involving its conduct in the Gulf of Mexico. Specifically, Wood Group PSN was ordered to pay $7 million for falsely reporting over several years that personnel had performed safety inspections on offshore facilities in the Gulf of Mexico in the Western District of Louisiana, and $1.8 million for negligently discharging oil into the Gulf of Mexico in violation of the Clean Water Act after an explosion on an offshore facility in the Eastern District of Louisiana, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Jeff Wood of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Louisiana Stephanie A. Finley, and U.S.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc. (HII) has agreed to a $9.2 million settlement of allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by knowingly overbilling the government for labor on U.S. Navy and Coast Guard ships at its shipyards in Pascagoula, Miss. Under the settlement, HII will make a payment of $7.9 million which, combined with earlier repayments, will result in the settlement recovery of approximately $9.2 million. “Contractors that knowingly bill the government in violation of contract terms will face serious consequences,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Chad A.