Overview
- Federal teams removed roughly 500 pounds (about 226 kilograms) of cocaine from the Motor Tanker Aquatravesia, a Greek‑owned, Liberian‑flagged oil tanker, in a Port of Los Angeles boarding operation that officials said took place Thursday.
- Ceasar Tubay Gelacio Jr., 43, a Filipino crew member, was arrested and charged with importation of a controlled substance and two other people were taken into custody as investigators opened a federal prosecutorial case.
- A U.S. Coast Guard narcotics‑detection canine alerted boarding teams to concealed packages, which investigators later confirmed were cocaine with an estimated street value of about $6.4 million.
- Court filings allege the drugs were loaded in Ecuador and that cartel boats planned to rendezvous with the tanker about 80 nautical miles off Mexico to collect the shipment, and the ship’s captain later secured the narcotics onboard.
- Authorities removed the contraband for eventual destruction and said a wider probe will trace the shipment’s origin and network links, a follow‑up that could shape further arrests and tighter inspections at major U.S. ports.