(Photo: belchonock, Getty Images/iStockphoto)PHILADELPHIA - Federal authorities intercepted a record 16.5 tons of cocaine on board a ship at the port of Philadelphia Tuesday afternoon, officials said. The drugs have a street value of $1 billion, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. It's a record seizure for the Eastern District — one the nation's largest districts, encompassing 4,700 square miles within nine counties. The seizure dwarfs a March 19 bust of nearly 1,000 pounds of cocaine that had been a record for the city of Philadelphia. This is the largest drug seizure in the history of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Source: Daily Nation June 18, 2019 19:29 UTC