[What you need to know to start the day: Get New York Today in your inbox.] The authorities were conducting a routine inspection aboard the M.S.C. Carlotta last month when a worn, teal shipping container caught their eye: The pins that held the containers’ doors in place appeared to have been doctored. The Carlotta, a container ship, had just arrived in Newark from Buenaventura, Colombia, and the teal container was supposed to contain dried fruit. Instead, officers opened the doors to find something that stunned even the most experienced customs agents: 60 tightly wrapped bundles of white powder, each the size of a small trunk. The bundles turned out to be 3,200 pounds of cocaine, the largest drug shipment to be intercepted at Port Newark in a quarter-century, a bounty worth $77 million on the street, the authorities said on Monday. The discovery of the shipment underscored the reality that legal ports of entry remain the main channel through which illicit drugs flow, even though President Trump has contended that drugs are pouring over the unsecured sections of the southern border to justify building a barrier there.<doc-sep>Sixty packages of cocaine were seized from a shipping container at the Port of New York/Newark. Authorities at the Port of New York and New Jersey seized approximately 3,200 pounds of cocaine from a shipping container on Feb. 28. Officials carried out an inspection of the shipment after they noticed tampering of several containers on a large vessel traveling from Buenaventura, Colombia, Drug Enforcement Administration special agent in charge Ray Donovan told NPR. That is when they discovered the nearly ton and a half of cocaine with an estimated street value of $77 million. The bust was part of a joint operation of the DEA, Customs and Border Protection, Coast Guard, Homeland Security Investigations, New York Police Department and New York State Police. "This is the type of case that will last years. We're investigating where it came from, where it's going, everybody and everyone involved," Donovan said. "Any time an organization is moving that amount of cocaine, they've been involved for a long period of time." "This interception prevents a massive quantity of drugs from getting to the streets and in the hands of our children," said Troy Miller, CBP Director of New York Field Operations, in a statement. The shipment was intercepted when the vessel stopped over in New York/Newark on its way to Antwerp, Belgium. It contained a legitimate shipment of dried fruit, Donovan said. It is unclear whether the drugs were destined for the U.S., or meant to continue on to Europe. "The cocaine was loaded on the very tail end of the shipment," Donovan explained. "That tells us it was the last thing put onto the container so that it was the first thing to be taken off, which is indicative of a very sophisticated organization that's been involved in trafficking for some time." Donovan said the shipment is part of a larger trend in higher cocaine usage in recent years. "The cocaine market is coming back," he said, adding that authorities seized about 26,500 pounds of cocaine in 2018. On a national level, the volume of drugs seized at ports of entry and in the field has been fluctuating. Officials at the borders seized 6,550 pounds of cocaine in 2018, down from 9,346 pounds in 2017, but up from 5,473 pounds in 2016. Donovan also noted a growing trend in cocaine laced with fentanyl, a powerful opiate often used as a cheap, more potent alternative to heroin. Copyright 2019 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.<doc-sep>'Whoever Is Watching This, They're Going To Get A Thrill': Willy T. 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The drugs had an estimated street value of $77 million. The crates said dried fruit from Colombia. There was no indication that they were holding tens of millions of dollars’ worth of cocaine but that is what federal agents said they discovered in the biggest coke bust in New York in a quarter century. After what was described as a routine interdiction, the agents said they found 3,200 pounds of cocaine in a shipping container that arrived at the Port of New York and New Jersey on Feb. 28. The drugs had an estimated street value of $77 million. “This is a significant seizure, in fact it is the largest cocaine seizure at the Port of New York/Newark since May 1994,” said Troy Miller, director of Customs and Border Protection’s New York Field Operations. After agents boarded the ship, they inspected several containers and noticed the sealing pins for a particular shipping container had been tampered with, a source told ABC News. Agents x-rayed the container, opened it and that’s when they discovered the cocaine, the source said. The cocaine was concealed behind boxes of dried fruit, according to a source familiar with the seizure. The cargo ship arrived in Newark from Buena Ventura, Colombia, and its next stop was Antwerp, Belgium. The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) is now working to identify the source of the drugs and who put it onto the ship, according to the source. Investigators are looking at several organizations who could be responsible and, eventually, they expect arrests. The cocaine resurgence is due, in part, because of a surplus in Colombia, which used to eradicate coca plants but no longer do that, resulting in an overabundance of supply. Traffickers are looking for a new market...which they find by mixing cocaine with fentanyl, creating what is, in effect, the modern-day speed ball. Authorities weren’t sure whether the cocaine was meant for the United States or Europe, the source said, but the seizure was lauded for keeping the drugs off the streets. “Cocaine, New York’s nemesis of the 90s, is back-indicating traffickers push to build an emerging customer base of users mixing cocaine with fentanyl,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Ray Donovan. “This record-breaking seizure draws attention to this new threat and shows law enforcement’s collaborative efforts in seizing illicit drugs before it gets to the streets and into users’ hands.”