Ship arrested after record cocaine bust is released after $10 million in cash and $40 million surety bond are posted.
William McSwain, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, announced via Twitter on Friday that his office secured $10 million in cash and a $40 million surety bond from the owner and operator of the MSC Gayane in exchange for its temporary release pending a final resolution of a lawsuit involving the ship.
The MSC Gayane was arrested on June 17 in Philadelphia after authorities found 17.5 tons of cocaine worth more than $1 billion on the ship.
The ship currently is off the U.S. coast en route to Rotterdam. North Europe was its original destination after Philadelphia, according to ship traffic monitoring services.
Six crew members were arrested in what Customs and Border Protection officials said was the largest cocaine seizure in history.
