Tag: MSC

  • The Politics of Contraband (from Gangster Planet)

    The Politics of Contraband (from Gangster Planet)

    On June 17, 2019, a massive 20-ton cocaine bust went down at the port of Philadelphia aboard a container ship calling at the port.  Today is the one-year anniversary of that drug bust, the second largest in American history, and one of five covered in “Gangster Planet.” Agents from a multi-agency Federal task force swarmed…

  • 140 Days After the Perfect Crime

    140 Days After the Perfect Crime

    It’s been 140 days since the second largest drug bust in American history went down in the waters off-shore of the Port of Philadelphia. Agents from a multi-agency Federal task force swarmed aboard a two block-long container ship, the MSC GAYANE, the second largest in the world. It marked the beginning of Containergate. They found…

  • The Jeffrey Epstein Social Network Mega Meta scandal

    The Jeffrey Epstein Social Network Mega Meta scandal

    The Jeffrey Epstein scandal is a ‘meta’ scandal that smaller scandals fit into like Russian dolls.  “Meta” means about the thing itself. “Meta news” is news about the news. It reveals the higher network workings of lesser scandals, like the “Container Ship Crime Wave!” scandal, which fits into it neatly. Names in Jeffrey Epstein’s little…

  • Is JPMorgan the ultimate plug?

    Is JPMorgan the ultimate plug?

    If you don’t know what a “plug” is, you probably don’t spend much time at Lipstick Alley. Your plug is your supplier, basically your drug dealer, according to the Urban Dictionary. More precisely, your big time drug dealer. A ‘plug’ supplies the ‘connects’ with large quantity of drugs, which the ‘connects’ in turn distribute to dealers. Like…

  • GangsterPlanet2: Learning to spot the ‘tells’

    GangsterPlanet2: Learning to spot the ‘tells’

    “The massive 19-ton cocaine bust on the docks in Philadelphia two weeks ago exposed a weakness— the use of well-worn templates—in the global drug cartel.”

  • Story of 20-ton cocaine seizure on container ship breaks down

    Story of 20-ton cocaine seizure on container ship breaks down

    “It didn’t pass the ‘hippie in a pop-top VW camper at the border’ smell test.” When the container ship MSC Gayane was busted in Philadelphia ten days ago carrying what ballooned into almost 20 tons of cocaine, it marked the fourth time an MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company vessel has been involved in a major drug…

  • ‘Highly mysterious’ China company owned both container ships in Philly Port drug busts

    ‘Highly mysterious’ China company owned both container ships in Philly Port drug busts

    El Chapo is so last year.   Meet Second Mate Ivan Durasevic of the container ship MSC Gayane, the world’s newest drug kingpin. In one of the biggest drug busts in American history, Duresevic is the highest-ranking man arrested so far. But some see problems with this scenario. He’s only the ship’s Second Mate. So Ivan’s credit…