More than 600 pounds of the street drug known as DMT was seized in Baltimore by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials while in transit to a Harford County address earlier this month.
Customs and Border Protection officials said the drugs arrived in three air cargo shipments from Chiapas, Mexico between May 7 and May 27. Each shipment consisted of four boxes with 100 vacuum-sealed bags of a brown, powdery substance inside, officials said.
Samples were sent to a federal laboratory for analysis, which led to scientists confirming that the substance was Dimethyltryptamine, known as the Schedule I hallucinogenic drug, DMT.
Schedule I drugs are defined as those with no currently accepted medical use in the U.S. and a high potential for abuse, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Border protection officials estimated that the 695-pound shipment had a street value of $555,000.
Officials said the shipment was destined to an address in Harford County but was seized on June 11 — five days after scientists confirmed the substance to be DMT. An investigation is ongoing, according to officials.
“The global marketplace has allowed unscrupulous people in our communities to order dangerous drugs, such as DMT, from overseas manufacturers,” Jason Kropiewnicki, border protection’s acting area port director in Baltimore, said in a news release. “Inspecting imports remains a critical component of Customs and Border Protection’s border security mission, and seizures like this are one way in which CBP helps to protect our communities.”
Customs and Border Protection officials size an average of 1,571 pounds of dangerous drugs each day at air, land and seaports of entry across the country, according to a news release.
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