695 Pounds Of Illegal Drug DMT Headed For Harford Co. Intercepted By CBP Officers

HARFORD COUNTY, MD — U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers in Baltimore seized 695 pounds of dimethyltryptamine, an LSD-like hallucinogenic, on June 11 that was headed from Mexico to an address in Harford County.

Officials discovered three shipments that arrived by air cargo from Chiapas, Mexico between May 7-27. Each shipment included four boxes and a combined 100 vacuum-sealed bags. CBP officers examined a random selection of the vacuum-sealed bags from each shipment and discovered a brown, powdery substance. CBP officers shipped two bags of the brown, powdery substance from each shipment to scientists at CBP’s Laboratories and Scientific Services for a full lab analysis. On June 6, CBP’s scientists identified the substance as dimethyltryptamine, or DMT, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

The 300 vacuum-sealed packages of DMT weighed a combined 315.5 kilograms, or about 695 pounds, nine ounces, and had a street value of about $555,000.

“The global marketplace has allowed unscrupulous people in our communities to order dangerous drugs, such as DMT, from overseas manufacturers that could hurt and potentially kills abusers,” said Jason Kropiewnicki, CBP’s acting area port director in Baltimore. “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.”

DMT, a schedule I controlled substance, is used for its psychedelic and hallucinogenic effects and was a popular drug of abuse in the 1960s, according to officials. DMT is still found circulating in the illegal drug market along with other tryptamine hallucinogens, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. DMT has no approved medical use in the United States.

"The intense, short duration effects are attractive to individuals who want the psychedelic experience, but not the mind-altering perceptions of other hallucinogens, like LSD," officials stated.