Fed officers stop ‘potentially dangerous’ drug before it made its way to NJ destination

⚫ Two separate bundles from China

⚫ Drug was headed to Northern NJ, officials said

⚫ Substance has led to NJ health alert before

Thanks to Philadelphia U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers, a recent shipment of “gas station heroin,” formally known as tianeptine, was stopped in its tracks at an international express consignment facility in South Jersey.

According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s release, CBP officers inspecting two separate bundles from Hong Kong noted to be "deep groove ball bearings" found five bags of tianeptine sodium salt instead.

Both bundles were headed for Edgewater, New Jersey, CBP said.

The foreign findings weighed a total of 22 pounds and eight ounces, according to CBP.

What is it

“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,” U.S. Customs and Border Protection said.

The substance doesn’t have the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s stamp of approval, and claims of it being an effective dietary supplement are false.

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The substance gets its street name from its ability to offer opioid-like effects and its presence at gas stations, according to CBP.

A health alert from the New Jersey Department of Health highlights user risks and past poison calls, which can be found here.

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“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. 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,” U.S. Customs and Border Protection Philadelphia Area Port Director Cleatus Hunt said in the release.

According to CBP, officers and agents confiscated an average of 2,339 pounds of drugs in 2023.

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