CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — Customs and Border Patrol Officers at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport arrested a passenger after officers said they discovered five pounds of a dangerous and deadly drug hidden in his luggage.
CBP says the drug was hidden in two-and-a-half-quart containers.
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It tested positive as gamma-butyrolactone (GBL), essentially the same chemical found in GHB. Authorities say this addictive and dangerous sedative drug is also known as “Coma in a Bottle” and the “Date Rape Drug.”
Authorities say sexual predators use it to knock out unsuspecting victims.
“People pass out. They become unconscious. They have no idea what has happened to them. You can have seizures. They wake up with a horrible result, have to be hospitalized, find out they have been raped and this is something they have no memory of,” said Kim Castro drug addiction treatment counselor.
Castro told Channel 2′s Tom Regan she has treated patients victimized after being slipped the drug, usually in a drink.
“It’s such a small amount, you wouldn’t even know if it was put in a shot. I had one client this happened to, and there were videos of her taken, and that had long term repercussions. Anything can happen when you’re unconscious,” said Castro.
Regan also spoke to a metro Atlanta ER nurse practitioner who has treated a dozen patients who overdosed on GHB.
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“A lot of times the patients come in are so comatose, they aren’t breathing on their own, so they need a breathing tube. There are cases where people were using it recreationally and just had too much and there are other times where people are out with friends, or people they don’t know. The next thing they know, they’re in the hospital and they don’t know why,” said nurse practitioner Kendra Krieg.
Krieg says GHB is also especially dangerous because it is tasteless, odorless, untraceable, and can have extreme consequences even with a dropper dose. She said it worries her to think how the seized drugs were going to be used.
“It’s very scary. This could be used in sex trafficking. They could be used for anything,” said Krieg.
Authorities say the 26-year-old man who was arrested had arrived on a flight from Spain. His name has not yet been released.
CBP officials said they arrested the suspect and turned him over to local law enforcement, but it’s unclear which agency is holding the suspect.
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