PHILADELPHIA — Customs officials in Philadelphia seized two separate shipments containing a combined six gallons of an industrial chemical solvent known by its street names as liquid ecstasy or “coma in a bottle.”
According to a news release on Wednesday from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, agents confiscated gamma butyrolactone (GBL), a Drug Enforcement Administration Schedule 1 controlled substance, on April 22. It can be used as a substitute for a depressant -- gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) -- that is used as a date rape drug, the Miami Herald reported.
The liquid was found in air cargo coming from France, according to WPVI-TV. It was bound for an address in Hillsborough County in west-central Florida, WFLA-TV reported.
Inside each shipment was a single clear plastic jug filled with an opaque liquid, customs officials said in their news release. Officers used a handheld elemental isotope analysis tool and identified the liquid as GBL.
While people can buy GBL as an industrial solvent -- it strips paint and rust -- it is also sold illegally as a bodybuilder supplement, the Herald reported.
“Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will continue to use our border security authority to search suspect international parcels and intercept dangerous products that could seriously harm American citizens,” the acting area port director for CBP’s Area Port of Philadelphia, said in a statement. “This is a mission and responsibility that we take very seriously.”