Federal officers at Atlanta’s airport seize nearly 100 pounds of ketamine

By Mariya Murrow and Meghan Packer

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    ATLANTA (WANF) — U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers tasked with inspecting international cargo at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport uncovered nearly 100 pounds of ketamine.

Ketamine Hydrochloride, also known as “Special K,” is a Schedule III non-narcotic compound commonly used as a social drug and in medicine as a dissociative anesthetic. Authorities said it’s also used in sexual assaults.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers intercepted the drugs, with a street value of almost $1 million, in two shipments arriving from Sweden Tuesday. Several bricks of the white powdered substance were found in a trash compactor headed for Colorado. Through the use of an X-ray device, CBP managed to find more ketamine in a second shipment where the drugs were stored in more than 700 metal thermoses.

“CBP encounters narcotics and other contraband concealed in an ever-changing variety of items,” said Clay Thomas, Atlanta Area Port Director. “Our officers remain vigilant with the use of specialized equipment and their experience to discover these concealment methods to keep dangerous drugs out of our communities.”

There is now a federal investigation into who sent the drugs and where they were headed.

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