Philadelphia CBP Officers seize nearly 7 pounds of methamphetamine destined to the Netherlands

PHILADELPHIA – U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers seized nearly seven pounds of Netherlands-bound methamphetamine on Tuesday that was discovered at an international shipping service facility in Delaware County, Pa. An x-ray exam detected an anomaly in a parcel destined to an address in the Netherlands. CBP officers opened the parcel and discovered a cloudy crystalline substance packed inside several zip-lock bags. Officers used a handheld elemental isotope analysis tool to identify the crystal-like substance as d-Methamphetamine hydrochloride. The methamphetamine weighed 3.05 kilograms, or nearly 6 pounds and 12 ounces. It has a street value of about $240,000 in the United States, and more in the Netherlands depending on purity. Methamphetamine is a Schedule II controlled substance under the U.S. Controlled Substances Act. Crystal meth may use ephedrine or pseudoephedrine as its principal chemical, but illicit crystal meth is often cooked with toxic, flammable, and corrosive chemicals that pose severe health and safety risks to users. Users may suffer from paranoia, anxiety, rapid heart rate, irregular heartbeat, stroke, and meth mouth, which is a severe tooth decay and gum disease. “Customs and Border Protection officers continue to work diligently to hold the line against the scourge of dangerous drugs along our nation’s borders, and we will continue to intercept that illicit poison before it can harm our communities or hurt our friends overseas,” said Cleatus P. Hunt, Jr., CBP’s Area Port Director for the Area Port of Philadelphia. Every day, CBP officers and agents seized an average of 1,571 pounds of dangerous drugs last year at and between our nation’s air, sea, and land ports of entry. See CBP’s enforcement stats to see what other dangerous drugs CBP is encountering at our nation’s borders.