Customs and Border Protection officers seize 57 pounds of dangerous ketamine

(WPHL) — U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers have seized 57 pounds of ketamine in Philadelphia.

According to the agency, the ketamine was found in five shipments that were on the way to South Florida.

Ketamine is also known as hydrochloride, which is an animal anesthetic dangerously abused by users and sexual predators.

According to the DEA, ketamine hydrochloride is a Schedule III non-narcotic compound regulated under the Controlled Substances Act. It is commonly known on the street as Special K, Donkey Dust, and Cat Killer, and is smoked, snorted, or mixed in beverages. It is used lawfully in both human and veterinary medicine to induce sedation, immobility, and relief from pain.

The ketamine was found in a parcel that was labeled as fishing rods being shipped from the Netherlands to Miami.

Once opened, CBP officers found a white crystalline substance inside six small plastic buckets in the parcel. The six ketamine buckets weighed 12.69 kilograms or just shy of 28 pounds.

On July 11, CBP officers seized four shipments that arrived from Germany. Each of the parcels was labeled as toys, replacement rollers, or picture frames, and was being shipped to Broward County, Florida.

Inside two of the four parcels, CBP officers discovered a total of eight vacuum-sealed bags of a white crystalline substance concealed inside boxes supposed to contain toys. In the other two parcels, CBP officers discovered a total of five vacuum-sealed bags of a white crystalline product concealed inside the backing of picture frames. Collectively, these 13 vacuum-sealed bags weighed 13.225 kilograms or 29 pounds and two ounces. These substances also tested positive for ketamine hydrochloride.

Collectively, the 57 pounds, two ounces of ketamine had a street value of about $1.5 million.

“Ketamine is a very dangerous anesthetic that can seriously harm abusers and unsuspecting victims, and so it’s an illicit drug that Customs and Border Protection officers take immense pleasure at intercepting before it can reach our communities,” said Cleatus P. Hunt, Jr., Area Port Director for CBP’s Area Port of Philadelphia. “CBP remains committed to combating drug trafficking organizations by seizing their poisonous shipments at our nation’s ports of entry.”