PHILADELPHIA — U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers have seized five separate shipments containing a combined 57 pounds of illicit ketamine hydrochloride, a powerful animal anesthetic that authorities warn is increasingly being misused by recreational users and sexual predators.
The first seizure occurred June 21, when CBP officers in Philadelphia inspected a parcel labeled as fishing rods en route from the Netherlands to Miami. Hidden inside the shipment were nearly 28 pounds of ketamine, concealed in six small plastic buckets.
Less than a week later, officers intercepted four additional shipments arriving from Germany, each declared as containing items such as toys, replacement rollers, or picture frames. Inside two of the parcels, officers discovered eight vacuum-sealed bags filled with a white crystalline substance concealed in boxes labeled as toys. In the remaining two parcels, officers found five similar bags hidden within the backing of picture frames. In total, the four packages contained more than 29 pounds of ketamine.
Ketamine, which is approved for limited medical and veterinary use, is known on the street by names like Special K, Donkey Dust, and Cat Killer. It is often smoked, snorted, or mixed into drinks to induce dissociative or hallucinogenic effects similar to those caused by phencyclidine (PCP).
CBP officials warn that unprescribed ketamine is commonly abused at nightclubs and rave parties, and has also been used in drug-facilitated sexual assaults. The drug is sometimes mixed with other substances, such as ecstasy, increasing the risk of overdose and death. Symptoms of overdose can include nausea, rapid heart rate, unconsciousness, convulsions, and even respiratory failure.
“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, in a news release.
Ketamine abuse has been linked to a rise in overdose deaths in recent years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. One of the most high-profile cases involved actor Matthew Perry, whose autopsy confirmed the drug was present at the time of his death.
