Eastern District of Pennsylvania | Two MSC Gayane Crew Members Sentenced for Conspiracy to Smuggle $1 Billn Worth of Coe to the Uned Stat | Uned Stat Department of Jtice

Contents:

• MSC GAYANE
• U.S. CTOMS AND BORR PROTECTN SEIZ MSC GAYANE FOLLOWG RERD COE SEIZURE
• MSC STATEMENT ON BLOOMBERG ARTICLE ABOUT MSC GAYANE INCINT
• TWO MSC GAYANE CREW MEMBERS SENTENCED FOR CONSPIRACY TO SMUGGLE $1 BILLN WORTH OF COE TO THE UNED STAT
• MSC GAYANE CREW MEMBER PLEADS GUILTY TO COE TRAFFICKG STEMMG OM ONE OF THE LARGT DG SEIZUR U.S. HISTORY
• MSC GAYANE CREW MEMBER SENTENCED TO 5+ YEARS FOR CONSPIRACY TO SMUGGLE $1 BILLN WORTH OF COE TO THE UNED STAT
• MSC GAYANE
• MSC GAYANE INCINT PHILALPHIA
• HOW US$1B WORTH OF KE WAS HIDN ONBOARD NTAERSHIP MSC GAYANE
• U.S. SEIZ RGO SHIP MSC GAYANE AFTER 20-TON E BT
• MSC GAYANE CURRENT POSN

MSC GAYANE

The current posn of MSC GAYANE is. The vsel MSC GAYANE (IMO: 9770763, MMSI 636018276) is a Contaer Ship built 2018 (5 years old) and. Vsel NameMSC GAYANE.

U.S. CTOMS AND BORR PROTECTN SEIZ MSC GAYANE FOLLOWG RERD COE SEIZURE

MSC GAYANESOceanic XVIII Ltd2018. DisclaimerMSC GAYANE current posn and history of port lls are received by AIS.

The data is for rmatnal purpos only and VselFr is not rponsible for the accuracy and reliabily of MSC GAYANE data. Ship MSC GAYANE (Contaer Ship) Registered Liberia - Vsel tails, Current posn and Voyage rmatn - IMO 9770763, MMSI 636018276, Call Sign D5OZ5.

MSC STATEMENT ON BLOOMBERG ARTICLE ABOUT MSC GAYANE INCINT

Ctoms and Borr Protectn’s (CBP) Area Port of Philalphia seized the MSC Gayane Thursday followg a rerd seizure of 20 tons of e on June seized the MSC Gayane July 4, 2019followg the rerd e seizuretwo weeks applitn om the U.

TWO MSC GAYANE CREW MEMBERS SENTENCED FOR CONSPIRACY TO SMUGGLE $1 BILLN WORTH OF COE TO THE UNED STAT

Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the Uned Stat District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania issued a seizure warrant for the Thursday, July 4, CBP executed the warrant and seized the MSC Gayane.

“The MSC Gayane is the largt vsel seized U. ”“The seizure of the MSC Gayane is another signifint step toward holdg acuntable those who perpetuate dg smugglg crim both here Philalphia and around the world, ” said Marlon Miller, Special Agent Charge of HSI Philalphia.

MSC GAYANE CREW MEMBER PLEADS GUILTY TO COE TRAFFICKG STEMMG OM ONE OF THE LARGT DG SEIZUR U.S. HISTORY

MSC Mederranean Shippg Company is aware of a mid-December 2022 Bloomberg media story about the 2019 MSC GAYANE ntaer ship cint. Most of the elements the Bloomberg story have already been publicly reported durg the 3 ½ years sce the Gayane cint and MSC’s Victim Impact Statement related to the cint is filed urt. The traffickers behd the MSC Gayane cint ed groundbreakg methods to smuggle their dgs and the operatn uld not have been foreen or predicted by any hont shippg operator.

While MSC’s preutnary rponse to the Gayane dg seizure was to reallote s Montenegr ntractors away om shippg rout that are most vulnerable to dgs traffickg, the pany tak issue wh the article’s overall characterizatn of one untry’s marime workforce based on the emergence of a ty mory of crimals among them. The MSC GAYANE cint was certaly a wake-up ll for the entire ntaer shippg and logistics dtry, given the elaborate nature of the unrlyg crimal activy. Durasevic and Ilic worked on board the MSC Gayane, a mercial shippg vsel, as crew members; Durasevic was the send officer and Ilic was the engeer t.

MSC GAYANE CREW MEMBER SENTENCED TO 5+ YEARS FOR CONSPIRACY TO SMUGGLE $1 BILLN WORTH OF COE TO THE UNED STAT

On multiple ocsns durg the MSC Gayane’s voyage and while at sea, crew members cludg the fendants helped load bulk packag of e onto the vsel om speedboats that approached the vsel the middle of the night unr ver of darkns. On June 17, 2019, feral, state, and lol law enforcement agents board the MSC Gayane when arrived at Packer Mare Termal Philalphia and seized about 20 tons of e worth over $1 billn U. Five other crew members om the MSC Gayane volved this smugglg scheme were arrted, plead guilty to nspiracy to posss wh tent to distribute e, and have prevly been sentenced based on their participatn the scheme.

“Prosecutors our Office have been workg non-stop to pursue jtice sce the MSC Gayane docked the port of Philalphia over two years ago, and we will not stop until the se is closed. In 2019, Penda, a crew member who worked on board the shippg vsel MSC Gayane as the ship’s fourth engeer, nspired wh others to engage bulk e smugglg.

On multiple ocsns durg the MSC Gayane’s voyage at sea, crew members, cludg Penda, helped load bulk e onto the vsel om speedboats that approached unr ver of darkns, travelg at high speeds. Crew members ed the Gayane’s crane to hoist rgo s full of e onto the vsel and then stashed the dgs var shippg ntaers.

MSC GAYANE

On June 17, 2019, feral, state, and lol law enforcement agents board the MSC Gayane when arrived at Packer Mare Termal Philalphia and seized approximately 20 tons of e on the ship, wh a street value of over $1 billn. Penda’s guilty plea is a ttament to Homeland Secury Invtigatns mment to holdg all those volved the transnatnal dg smugglg vtigatn aboard the MSC Gayane acuntable, ” said Brian A.

For the first half of 2019 until mid-June of that year, Penda, a crew member who worked on board the shippg vsel MSC Gayane as the ship’s fourth engeer, nspired wh others to engage a bulk e smugglg scheme.

MSC GAYANE INCINT PHILALPHIA

On multiple ocsns durg the MSC Gayane’s voyage and while at sea, crew members cludg Penda helped load bulk packag of e onto the vsel om speedboats that approached the vsel the middle of the night unr ver of darkns. Seven other crew members om the MSC Gayane volved this smugglg scheme were arrted and plead guilty to nspiracy to posss wh tent to distribute e based on their participatn the scheme.

Penda’s jt sentence beg hand down today, this chapter of the MSC Gayane saga is now g to a close. Re: update on rgo onboard MSC Gayane, voyage NX922R, NWC-USA-SAWC service; MSC servic the USA. This is an update followg the recent law enforcement dg traffickg operatn on MSC Gayane Philalphia.

As a rult of that operatn, MSC Gayane has been unr U. MSC Gayane was en route to northern Europe at the time of the cint, wh lls schled at Rotterdam, Antwerp and Le Havre. Asi om a small number of ntaers, which have been held by the thori as part of their ongog vtigatns, all rgo on the MSC Gayane have been transshipped to other MSC vsels and sent on to their rpective statns.

HOW US$1B WORTH OF KE WAS HIDN ONBOARD NTAERSHIP MSC GAYANE

Prosecutn of crewmembers of the ntaer ship MSC Gayane is fally over.

U.S. SEIZ RGO SHIP MSC GAYANE AFTER 20-TON E BT

Prr to boardg, he said he “was approached outsi a fé Montenegro by dividuals who knew of his upg voyage” and reced him to the the four nspirators were at sea aboard the MSC Gayane, they ed “nar phon” (assumedly referrg to encrypted stant msagg vic) to munite wh -nspirators on ial four nspirators reced four addnal crewmembers to the smugglg operatn after the ship sailed om Europe: fourth engeer Vladimir Penda (sentenced to four years, 10 months), assistant reeferman Stefan Bojevic, ordary seaman Lali Pulu and able seaman Fonofaavae Tiasaga (each sentenced to five years) the 22 crew on the ship, more than a third admted to beg volved the operatn and were nvicted. ”Frh tails on smugglg operatnThe MSC Gayane — a large 2018-built “Neopanamax”-class ship wh pacy to rry 11, 600 twenty-foot equivalent uns — traveled wt om Europe across the Atlantic, through the Panama Canal and down the wtern ast of South Ameri. After the spectn Chile, the [smugglers] moved the dgs out of the ventilatn system and to ntaers ultimately sted for Europe, ” said the vtigatn MSC Gayane was aga met by speedboats the night on the northbound n between Pe and Panama and more e was brought aboard g the crane prr to the ship enterg the Panama Canal on s return rerd bt PhilalphiaWhen the MSC Gayane arrived at Philalphia’s Packer Mare Termal, was met by agents of Homeland Secury Invtigatns (HSI), Ctoms and Borr Protectn, the Coast Guard, state police om Pennsylvania and Delaware, and cy police om there is no rmatn the urt dockets on whether thori were tipped off, the sle of the welg mtee effectively nfirms they were.

76 tons of e those seven voyage before the btWas there also e smuggled aboard the MSC Gayane on the prr voyage — an operatn that succsfully livered the goods? Prosecutors stated urt documents that the MSC Gayane was met by speedboats “begng early 2019. MSC GAYANE.

The current posn of MSC GAYANE is Yellow Sea wh ordat 38. The vsel MSC GAYANE (IMO: 9770763, MMSI: 636018276) is a Cargo D It's sailg unr the flag of [LR] Liberia.

MSC GAYANE CURRENT POSN

The current posn of MSC GAYANE is tected by our AIS receivers and we are not rponsible for the reliabily of the data. The last posn was rerd while the vsel was Coverage by the Ais receivers of our vsel trackg current drght of MSC GAYANE as reported by AIS is 10. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and seized the rgo vsel MSC Gayane as beg subject to possible forfeure to the Uned Stat.

On June 17, 2019, feral, state, and lol law enforcement agents board the MSC Gayane when arrived at Packer Mare Termal Philalphia and seized 19. Sce that time, crew members of the MSC Gayane have been charged wh knowgly and tentnally nspirg wh each other and others to posss more than five kilograms of e on board a vsel subject to the jurisdictn of the Uned Stat.

As a rult of this seizure, the MSC Gayane – a ship built 2018 and measurg approximately two cy blocks length – has been placed unr the ctody of CBP and shall rema so until further proceedgs or Orr of the Court.