450 cocaine bricks, worth $38m, found inside 13 duffel bags

US customs officials say drug dogs sniffed out Philadelphia's largest seizure of cocaine in more than two decades.

Local, state and federal law enforcement officials said on Thursday that 450 bricks of cocaine were found inside 13 duffel bags in a shipping container.

Customs and Border Protection's Area Port Director for Philadelphia Joseph Martella says Tuesday's seizure amounted to more than 538 kilograms of cocaine worth about $38m.

Martella says the ship was ported in Guatemala before stopping in the Bahamas and was destined for the Netherlands. It wasn't clear where the cocaine was headed or where it was added to the shipment.

It was Philadelphia's largest seizure since 1998.