Bags stuffed with 110 lbs of ketamine — with a street value of $4 million — were discovered inside a passenger’s luggage at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport, officials said Wednesday.
The traveler, a UK citizen who was not identified, arrived on a flight from France on Dec. 13 and was selected for a secondary inspection, the US Customs and Border Protection said.
An X-ray scan and physical search of two large suitcases, which the British national claimed had been given to him by a family member, were found to contain black plastic trash bags “filled with large white crystals,” CBP said in a statement.
Field tests determined the substance in the bags to by ketamine — an anesthetic used to treat pain and depression that is known to have hallucinogenic effects.
“At $90 per gram, this ketamine load has a street value of over $4 million,” the agency said.
Officers seized the drugs and turned away the suspected smuggler, who was returned to France.
“Our drug interdiction mission is vital to protecting our nation and our communities from the dangers of illicit substances,” said Acting Port Director John Ammons.
Ketamine is a Schedule III controlled substance, and while accepted for medical use for short-term sedation and anesthesia, as well as in veterinary medicine, it is increasingly abused as a party drug for its dissociative sensations and hallucinogenic properties.
“Friends” star Matthew Perry died earlier this fall from the acute effects of ketamine, according to the results of his autopsy released last week.
The actor had been undergoing experimental ketamine infusion therapy to treat depression and anxiety in the lead-up to his Oct. 28 drowning in a heated pool.