United Nations: Two bags containing about 16 kilograms of cocaine were seized at the mail intake center of the United Nations at its headquarters here, UN and New York police officials have said.
The suspicious bags were “intercepted by the Security and Safety Service” last week, UN spokesperson Martin Nesirky said. The white bags had no name or address but had a poor image of the blue UN logo stamped on them.
The unusual shipment had been sent from Mexico city through shipping company DHL’s center in Cincinnati.
Nesirky said “neither the United Nations nor anyone located in the United Nations was the intended recipient of the packets” and the bags in which the cocaine was delivered were not UN diplomatic pouches.
The New York Police Department was notified about the packets when they were intercepted on January 16 and investigation is ongoing.
“The relevant host country authorities — the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the New York Police Department (NYPD) — were notified about the discovery of the suspicious bags and the material handed over to their custody,” Nesirky said, adding that the US Mission to the United Nations was also informed about the incident. New York Police Department spokesperson Paul Browne said the shipment was seized at the UN’s postal receiving center after it was scanned.
“It is my understanding that because there was no addressee, the DHL just thought well that’s the UN symbol so we should ship it on to UN headquarters and let them figure out who it was supposed to go to,” Browne said. “There is noth