Police Raid Cargo Ship at Newark Port Suspected of Carrying Pakistani Stowaways, Some Dead

(The Blaze/AP) – Police raided a cargo ship at a New Jersey pier on Wednesday after a routine inspection led the Coast Guard to believe that stowaways were inside a container loaded in India, some of which were reportedly dead, according to The Daily Mail.

The container, which a manifest said was carrying machine parts to Norfolk, Va., was loaded aboard the Ville D'Aquarius in India, Coast Guard spokesman Charles Rowe said.

Officials told NBC 4 New York that harbors in the Empire State alone get stowaways about six times a year.

A Coast Guard team boarded the 850-foot-long vessel outside New York Harbor early Wednesday as the ship prepared to dock at Port Newark. They heard sounds consistent with people coming from the container, Rowe said. The boarding party followed protocol and didn't open the container at sea in order to control the situation, Rowe said.

Once the ship was docked, authorities began unloading containers to get to the one that the Coast Guard suspected might have people inside.

The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement Wednesday that officials are conducting a "thorough investigation of the vessel."

Customs and Border Protection agents planned to open the container once it was unloaded.

The ship began its voyage May 30 in the United Arab Emirates, then made one stop in Pakistan and two stops in India. Its last port before Newark was in Egypt on June 15.

From the Daily Mail:

Last year, an Egyptian man found living in a New Jersey warehouse claimed he had arrived in the U.S. by stowing away on a ship to Port Newark.

The Post reported that the mysterious man, Asem Haroon, was suspected of fighting against U.S. troops in Iraq.

It's unclear how he managed to make the journey, or whether or not he came alone.

As The Daily Mail also points out, Port Newark is in close proximity to a number of oil refineries, a common al-Qaeda target.

This story is breaking and updates will be added.