$240K Worth Of Meth Found At Delco Shipping Facility, Feds Say

DELAWARE COUNTY, PA — Several pounds of methamphetamine worth about a quarter million dollars was found at an international shipping facility in Delaware County, federal authorities said.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers seized the drugs Tuesday.

An x-ray exam detected an anomaly in a parcel destined to an address in the Netherlands. Officers opened the parcel and discovered a cloudy, crystalline substance packed inside several zip-lock bags.

An examination of the substance via handheld elemental isotope analysis tool identified it 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, authorities said.

Users of methamphetamine can suffer from paranoia, anxiety, rapid heart rate, irregular heartbeat, stroke, and meth mouth, which is a severe tooth decay and gum disease, according to authorities.

"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," Cleatus P. Hunt, Jr., CBP’s Area Port Director for the Area Port of Philadelphia, said.