STERLING, Va. – It might have been a micro stereo, but U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers clearly didn’t like the loud sound they heard emanating from it recently at Washington Dulles International Airport.
While inspecting international air cargo, CBP officers examined a three-piece hi-fi micro sound system and noticed that the receiver part of the stereo was unusually heavy. Officers lifted the receiver and heard a bulk object moving inside. Officers x-rayed the parcel and verified an anomaly in the receiver.
Officers opened the stereo receiver and extracted a vacuum-sealed bag that contained a white, crystal-like substance. CBP officers tested the substance with a handheld elemental isotope analysis tool and identified the substance as ketamine hydrochloride.
The ketamine weighed about two pounds, four ounces, and had a street value of about $60,000.
The parcel was shipped from an address near Manchester, U.K. and was destined to an address near Los Angeles.
Ketamine hydrochloride is a Schedule III non-narcotic compound regulated under the Controlled Substances Act.
According to the DEA, ketamine, commonly known on the street as Special K, is used in both human and veterinary medicine to induce sedation, immobility, and relief from pain. It has recently been used by medical professionals for mental health and substance use disorders. Ketamine is abused for its ability to induce dissociative sensations and hallucinations, and it has been used to facilitate sexual assault. Overdoses can lead to nausea, irregular heart rate, muscle stiffening, unconsciousness, and respiratory failure leading to death.
The ketamine will be destroyed. No arrests have been made. An investigation continues.
“Transnational criminal organizations continue to employ a variety of tactics to smuggle illicit narcotics into the United States, and our officers proved once again that they are extraordinarily skilled at detecting these concealment methods,” said Christine Waugh, Acting Area Port Director for CBP’s Area Port of Washington, D.C. “We want to assure the public that Customs and Border Protection remains committed to keeping our country and our communities safe from the scourge of dangerous drugs.”
CBP officers and agents seized an average of 2,895 pounds of dangerous drugs every day at our nation’s air, land and sea ports of entry. See what else CBP accomplished during “A Typical Day” in 2022.
CBP’s border security mission is led at our nation’s Ports of Entry by CBP officers and agriculture specialists from the Office of Field Operations. CBP screens international travelers and cargo and searches for illicit narcotics, unreported currency, weapons, counterfeit consumer goods, prohibited agriculture, invasive weeds and pests, and other illicit products that could potentially harm the American public, U.S. businesses, and our nation’s safety and economic vitality.
Learn more at www.CBP.gov.
Follow the Director of CBP’s Baltimore Field Office on Twitter at @DFOBaltimore for breaking news, current events, human interest stories and photos, and CBP’s Office of Field Operations on Instagram at @cbpfieldops.
