Philadelphia —U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers seized 42 grams of Methoxetamine (MXE), a dangerous designer drug, Monday which arrived from Spain at the UPS express consignment facility near Philadelphia International Airport.
MXE is a powerful dissociative drug and a synthetic compound derivative of Ketamine, a drug used in human and veterinarian medicine.
CBP officers conducted a routine examination of a padded envelope that was manifested as sports supplements. Officers discovered that the envelope contained a white, powdery substance in a plastic bag. A label on the bag identified the substance as MXE.
The MXE was destined to an address in Minneapolis.
As with many designer drugs, the label also included a warning that the contents were for research purposes only, and that the product was not fit for human consumption. MXE and other designer drugs are formulated in foreign countries by street chemists who are not regulated.
“I would like to warn consumers who think that all products ordered on the Internet are legal and safe. That is not true. These synthetic compounds are highly irregular, unpredictable, and sometimes lethal substances. There have already been an unacceptable number of reported deaths in our communities from designer drug overdoses,” said Tarance Drafts, Acting CBP Port Director for the Port of Philadelphia.
CBP officers seized the MXE for violating the Food, Drug and Cosmetic (FD&C) Act. No arrests were made.
According to the FD&C Act, a new drug may not be introduced into interstate commerce without an FDA-approved application. The MXE is also considered a misbranded new drug because it does not include directions for use.
“Customs and Border Protection remains committed to protecting American consumers by intercepting harmful or illicit products at our nation’s ports of entry. Narcotics interdiction remains a top CBP enforcement priority,” said Drafts.
CBP routinely conducts random inspections operations on passengers and air cargo searching for narcotics, currency, weapons and other prohibited or illicit products.