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.
Tianeptine, known as gas station heroin, is a dangerous compound marketed overseas as a dietary supplement and antidepressant that also allegedly treats irritable bowel syndrome. 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.”
Every day, CBP officers and agents seized an average of 2,339 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.
CBP's border security mission is led at our nation’s Ports of Entry by CBP officers and agriculture specialists from the Office of Field Operations. 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 American public, U.S. businesses, and our nation’s safety and economic vitality.
See what CBP accomplished during "A Typical Day" in 2023. Learn more at www.CBP.gov.
Follow the Director of CBP’s Baltimore Field Office on Twitter at @DFOBaltimore for breaking news, current events, human interest stories and photos, and CBP’s Office of Field Operations on Instagram at @cbpfieldops.
