U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers seized six gallons of a drug known as “coma in a bottle” as it passed through Philadelphia, the agency wrote in a Wednesday press release.
“Coma in a bottle” is a slang term for gamma butyrolactone (GBL), which, as an industrial chemical solvent, can serve as a chemical precursor to gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB), a drug utilized in date-rapes, according to the CBP press release.
GBL holds the status of a Schedule 1 controlled substance with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), while GHB can have numerous effects to include “respiratory distress, coma, and death,” the release continued.
The GBL was spread across two clear plastic jugs from France bound for a Hillsborough County address in Florida, according to the agency. (RELATED: Officials Discover Over $4 Million Of Cocaine Disguised As Stone)
Philadelphia customs agents seize 6 gallons of liquid known as ‘coma in a bottle’ bound for Florida https://t.co/JPUvhcrdB7
— MSN (@MSN) April 27, 2023
An elemental isotope analysis tool helped officers specifically identify the liquid with an opaque texture as GBL. Utilized legally, GBL can help strip paint and rust, the release continued.
The agency “will continue to use our border security authority to search suspect international parcels and intercept dangerous products that could seriously harm American citizens,” Rene Ortega, the Philadelphia Acting Area Port Director for the CBP, said in the press release.
Philadelphia in 2019 saw one of the most significant drug seizures in American history when a cocaine load with a street value of $1 billion was found aboard the MSC Gayane, a container ship docked in the city. Goran Gogic, a former heavyweight boxer, was charged in October 2022 in relation to the seizure.