PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Customs and Border Protection agents recently seized shipments of drugs passing through Philadelphia Airport, including nearly 73 pounds of ketamine and 12 pounds of hallucinogenic mushrooms.
The first shipment seized came from France on July 5, and the second from Germany four days later. After further inspection by agents, both contained around 73 pounds of ketamine.
Steve Sapp, a spokesman for Customs and Border Protection, said ketamine is an animal anesthetic that is legal under doctor supervision, but not legal just in street use. He said it is often the drug of choice for sexual predators.
“They use it in mixing it with drinks that they give their victims before sexual assaults,” said Sapp.
The drugs came in two packages labeled for an air filter and a headlight for a Mercedes-Benz, and were bound for Broward County, Florida.
Earlier this week, agents made a second bust when they discovered more illicit contents within a box of candy. The parcel was headed from California to Spain and contained around 12 pounds of psilocybin mushrooms in the form of gummies (50 packets), chocolate bars (40 bars), and capsules (10 packages).
“Psilocybin mushrooms are a hallucinogenic psychedelic, but it's also illegal federally to transport across state lines, or to import or export from the United States,” Sapp said.