U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers intercepted a shipment of a potentially dangerous tianeptine, known on the street as “gas station heroin,” at an international express consignment facility in South Jersey on December 4 that was destined to an address in Edgewater, N.J.
CBP officers inspected two separate parcels on November 25 and December 2 from Hong Kong that were each manifested as “deep groove ball bearings.” Instead of ball bearings, officers discovered five bags of a white powdery substance in each of the two parcels.
CBP officers tested the substance using a handheld elemental isotope analysis tool and identified the substance as tianeptine sodium salt.
The tianeptine weighed a combined 10.22 kilograms, or 22 pounds and eight ounces.
Tianeptine is an atypical tricyclic antidepressant that is sold in European, Asian, and South American countries to allegedly treat anxiety, depression, and irritable bowel syndrome.
Tianeptine is not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for any use in the United States. However, tianeptine is being sold online, and in the United States at local smoke shops and convenience stores as a dietary supplement, though the FDA considers tianeptine to not meet the statutory definition of a dietary ingredient.
Tianeptine is referred to as “gas station heroin” because it is commonly sold at gas stations and is known to mimic the effects of opioids. Authorities warn that misuse may cause dependency and tianeptine poses severe health risks.
According to the DEA, U.S. law enforcement has encountered tianeptine in various forms including bulk powder, counterfeit pills mimicking hydrocodone and oxycodone pharmaceutical products, and individual stamp bags commonly used to distribute heroin.
New Jersey, where these parcels were destined, issued a health alert after authorities identified a cluster of poisoning cases involving tianeptine and warned that tianeptine use can lead to serious health complications and even death.
“The exponential growth of the global marketplace has allowed nefarious opportunists an abundantly accessible supply of synthetic opioid and cannabinoid compounds that they then mix with other dangerous substances to create a potent and potentially deadly drug of abuse,” said Cleatus Hunt, CBP’s Area Port Director for the Area Port of Philadelphia. “Customs and Border Protection officers remain committed to working with our Food and Drug Administration partners to keep dangerous synthetic compounds out of the hands of criminal organizations by intercepting it at our nation’s borders when we encounter it.”
The original announcement can be found here.