70,000 Ambien Pills Hidden In Yarn Seized At Dulles Airport

STERLING, VA — Hidden inside a shipment of yarn from India were nearly 70,000 Zolpidem Tartrate pills, commonly known as Ambien, worth an estimated $33,000, which were seized by federal officers.

A news release from the Customs and Border Protection office said the Jan. 16 seizure was made at an air cargo warehouse near Washington Dulles International Airport. Officers initially examined the shipment of 96 rolls of black yarn spooled around pink tubes on Dec. 17; the shipment was destined to be sent to an address in Buena Park, California.

Customs officers unspooled the black yarn of one tube and found multiple 10-pill blister packs taped to the pink tube.

The pills were labeled Zolpidem Tartrate, which is classified by the Drug Enforcement Agency as a Schedule IV controlled substance. Zolpidem belongs to a class of medications called sedative-hypnotics and is prescribed by doctors to treat insomnia.

CBP officers then checked the remaining 95 yarn spools and found they also concealed similar pill blister packs.

In total, officers discovered a combined 69,813 pills concealed inside each of the 96 spools of yarn. The pills weighed a total of 60 pounds.

“This is a very bold attempt to smuggle a significant amount of prescription medicine into the United States, but this creative concealment method failed to fool Customs and Border Protection officers,” said Christine Waugh, CBP’s Area Port Director for the Area Port of Washington, D.C., in a news release. “CBP officers are committed to protecting the public by intercepting illicit and potentially dangerous products that arrive at our nation’s ports of entry every day.”

CBP screens international travelers and cargo and searches for illicit narcotics, unreported currency, weapons, counterfeit consumer goods, prohibited agriculture, invasive weeds and pests, and other illicit products that could potentially harm the public and U.S. businesses.