Largest cocaine bust in decade passed through N.J. Here's where it was hidden

Officials came across the largest influx of cocaine seen in 10 years at a Philadelphia port last month, and say it first arrived at a Pennsauken seaport. 

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers from the Area Port of Philadelphia seized 709 pounds of cocaine hidden in cabinets shipped from Puerto Rico, the agency announced Monday. The shipment has a street value of $22 million, authorities said. 

The seizure marked border patrol's sixth largest cocaine grab to date, as well as the 10th largest of any illicit drug seizure in the Port of Philadelphia, authorities said. It was the largest cocaine bust in Philadelphia since 2007, when officers found 864 pounds in a shipment from the Dominican Republic. 

The shipment first raised concerns in November, when border patrol officers at a seaport in Pennsauken noticed something strange in a shipping container, and had it sent to a centralized station for closer examination in Philadelphia. 

There, officials emptied the container and began to inspect the furniture, finding fake walls in many cabinets that concealed 256 bricks of a powdery substance later determined to be cocaine, authorities said. 

At the same seaport later that month, officers found 30 pounds of cocaine hidden in a wooden chest, officials said. That shipment, valued at around $900,000, was sent from Puerto Rico and addressed to a location in Cinnaminson. 

Joseph Martella, the acting port director in Philadelphia, said that drug trafficking organizations look for opportunities after natural disasters hinder an area's ability to enforce rules. As Puerto Rico continues to recover from last year's devastating Hurricane Maria, it's possible that organized criminals are skirting usual regulations out of the island.

"CBP officers remain ever vigilant to interdict narcotics loads, and we are pleased to have stopped this deadly poison shipment before it could hurt our communities," Martella said in a statement. 

This is CBP's largest cocaine seizure in Philadelphia since officers intercepted 864 pounds of cocaine concealed in a shipping container from the Dominican Republic March 8, 2007.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials in Cherry Hill are continuing to investigate the case.  

Amanda Hoover can be reached at ahoover@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @amandahoovernj. Find NJ.com on Facebook.