US authorities have seized approximately 227 kilograms of cocaine valued at an estimated $6.4 million from an aframax crude tanker arriving in Southern California, with a Filipino crew member now facing federal drug charges in connection with the case.
The operation was carried out jointly by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the US Coast Guard after the tanker Aquatravesia arrived at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
According to investigators, a narcotics detection dog alerted officers to suspicious cargo onboard, leading authorities to discover roughly 500 pounds of cocaine hidden inside the vessel.
Federal prosecutors have charged 43-year-old Filipino national Ceasar Tubay Gelacio Jr. with importation of a controlled substance. He was arrested after authorities boarded the vessel and could face a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 10 years if convicted.
Court documents filed in Los Angeles state that US authorities received intelligence earlier this month suggesting that the Liberian-flagged tanker was sailing toward the United States carrying a large cocaine shipment allegedly intended for a Mexican drug cartel. The vessel’s previous port call had been in Ecuador.
According to the complaint, the situation reportedly escalated after crew members discovered suspicious packages hidden in the ship’s garbage room. Investigators say the vessel’s master questioned crew members and allegedly identified Gelacio as being connected to the narcotics before the packages were secured elsewhere onboard.
US investigators further allege that cartel-linked boats were expected to intercept the tanker while it transited Mexican waters. Authorities claim the captain had been warned that armed vessels would attempt to meet the ship roughly 80 nautical miles off the Mexican coast as part of a planned transfer operation.
When the transfer reportedly failed to take place, additional boats were allegedly expected to approach the tanker to recover the drugs. The captain also informed authorities that the vessel received radio calls believed to have come from cartel operatives attempting to contact the ship.
Following the intelligence alert, US authorities instructed the tanker to proceed directly to the Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex, where federal agents and Coast Guard teams carried out the boarding operation and seized the cocaine.
Investigators allege the drugs were loaded onto the vessel in Ecuador and were intended to be transferred while the tanker sailed north along the Pacific coast.
HSI Los Angeles Special Agent in Charge Eddy Wang said the seizure highlights ongoing efforts to dismantle transnational criminal networks using commercial shipping routes to move narcotics into North America.
Captain Stacey Crecy, commander of Coast Guard Sector Los Angeles-Long Beach, described the case as an example of coordinated inter-agency action designed to protect the maritime transportation system while minimising disruption to legitimate trade flows.
The 2017-built 113,000 dwt tanker is owned by Greece-based Unisea Shipping and is reportedly operating under charter to Swiss commodities trader Mercuria. Neither company has been accused of wrongdoing.
The case comes amid a broader US crackdown on maritime narcotics trafficking. According to the Department of Homeland Security, HSI seized more than 917,000 pounds of cocaine during 2025, while the US Coast Guard intercepted over 511,000 pounds over the same period — more than three times its historical annual average.
The investigation remains ongoing, and prosecutors stressed that the allegations contained in the criminal complaint have not yet been proven in court.
