In Philadelphia, the U.S. federal officials confiscated nearly 20 tonnes of cocaine worth about $1 billion from a vessel allegedly owned by the asset management arm of JP Morgan.
The development is said to be one of the largest drug busts in U.S. history.
Although the vessel is operated by the Swiss-based Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) called MSC Gayane, it was funded by a transport strategy fund run by the asset management arm of JP Morgan.
Six crew members on board the vessel were detained and charged with knowingly and deliberately conspiring to possess more than five kilograms of cocaine, a declaration by the U.S. Justice Department said.
Details also show that the vessel is being rented to MSC.
The ship was flying under the flag of Liberia, a nation in West Africa, according to the online vessel tracking website MarineTraffic.
JP Morgan declined to comment on the development since Thursday as details emerged.
The Liberian link continues uncertain throughout the development on Friday morning. But an expert said using the flag of the West African nation doesn’t necessarily involve the nation.
“A Liberian registered ship is not in itself a link with the West Africa drug economy,” Mark Shaw, the director of the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime, told Business Insider. “Liberia serves as a flag state for much shipping.”
The development is not the first involving MSC.
Earlier this year, Philadelphia officials discovered 13 large black duffel bags being delivered in one of the company’s shipping containers with a combined 450 bricks of cocaine.
