New Orleans, La. - Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers in New Orleans targeted a shipment found to contain substances that have been sending drug abusers to emergency rooms with nasty effects.
When
the cargo reached the Port of New Orleans on Nov. 29, CBP officers
inspected and ultimately detained the shipment which contained six
silver packages with no writing, labels, or descriptions of any kind, an
FDA marking violation. Further examination revealed the packages
contained an unidentifiable white powdery substance, a sample of which
was sent to the CBP laboratory in Houston, TX, for analysis.
On
Dec. 21, officers in New Orleans received confirmation from the
laboratory that the contents were positively identified as
‘3,4-Methylenedioxypyrovalerone hydrochloride’ (MDPV). While not a
scheduled or controlled drug, MDPV has been documented as potentially
addictive with dangerous adverse effects on the body and mind as stated
by health practitioners.
As a result
of the marking violation, CBP officers seized 13 pounds of MDPV on Dec.
27. MDPV is a type of synthetic drug said to mimic the effects of
methamphetamine or cocaine. Poison control centers have publicized more
than 100 cases of Methylenedioxypyrovalerone hydrochloride overdose
cases being reported to various centers, 75 percent having originated in
Louisiana and Kentucky.
“The discovery
and interception of this potentially dangerous drug product is yet
another illustration of how CBP works every single day to keep hazardous
substances from entering the commerce of the United States,” said
Robert C. Gomez, acting CBP director of the New Orleans field office.
It
has been reported that poison control centers are seeing this as an
emerging health threat. MDPV overdose has been attributed to multiple
deaths in the United States and abroad. The word on the street and the
internet is this drug can be sniffed as the “legal cocaine” or “legal
speed.”
U.S. Customs and Border
Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of
Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of
our nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is
charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the
country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.
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