Vladimir Penda

Vladimir Penda, 27, of Montenegro, was sentenced for his role in the scheme as an engineer aboard the MSC Gayane, a shipping vessel that was stopped by authorities at the Packer Marine Terminal on June 17, 2019. Investigators found nearly 20 tons of drugs (about 39,500 pounds) valued at approximately $1 billion, making the bust one of the largest in U.S. history. In 2019, Penda, a crew member who worked on board the shipping vessel MSC Gayane as the ship’s fourth engineer, conspired with others to engage in bulk cocaine smuggling. On multiple occasions during the MSC Gayane’s voyage at sea, crew members, including Penda, helped load bulk cocaine onto the vessel from speedboats that approached under cover of darkness, traveling at high speeds. Crew members used the Gayane’s crane to hoist cargo nets full of cocaine onto the vessel and then stashed the drugs in various shipping containers.