see also: in November 2008:   Thanksgiving Day Marijuana Seizure Yields 450 Pounds at Douglas Port of Entry   Registered Sex Offender Intercepted by CBP at Pacific Highway Entry   CBP Officers Seize 145 Pounds of Ecstasy at Vermont Entry   CBP Officers in Boston Seize Undeclared $19,300   CBP Advises Travelers of Temporary Construction at Otay Mesa Border Crossing   CBP Officers in Niagara Falls Arrest Man Wanted in California   Customs and Border Protection Officers in New York Arrest Imposter ...more on cbp.gov:   CBP News Releases   Press Officers

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Buffalo, N.Y. – U.S. Customs and Border Protection today announced the seizure of 42 vials of liquid ketamine. The seizure resulted in the arrest of a U.S. permanent resident.

On October 16, CBP officers encountered Warren Maynard, a 50-year-old citizen of Barbados, a lawful permanent resident of the United States, as he applied for admission into the United States at the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge border crossing in Lewiston, N.Y. The subject advised CBP officers that he was returning to his residence in Brooklyn, New York after purchasing some religious items in Canada. Maynard advised officers that he was in possession of approximately 100 bottles of “holy water”. Additional questioning of Maynard aroused the suspicion of the CBP officer and he was referred for a secondary enforcement exam.

During the course of the secondary inspection, a CBP narcotics detector dog demonstrated a positive alert to the package containing the religious items. CBP officers then performed a field narcotics test which resulted positive for Ketamine in 42 of the 100 bottles. The remaining bottles were field tested for general narcotics and are undergoing additional laboratory analysis. Late last week, CBP received the laboratory results confirming that the substance in the 42 bottles was in fact liquid Ketamine.

Ketamine, street named "Special K," is a powerful hallucinogen widely used as an animal tranquilizer by veterinarians. Illicit users of Special K describe profound hallucinations that include visual distortions and a lost sense of time and identity. Ketamine is odorless and tasteless, so it can be added to beverages without being detected. Due to its dissociative effect, it is reportedly used as a date-rape drug.

“This unique seizure demonstrates the extraordinary methods individuals will utilize in their attempt to smuggle narcotics,” said Buffalo Port Director Joseph J. Wilson. “This seizure further illustrates the vigilance of CBP officers in interdicting contraband entering our country.”

Maynard was arrested on federal charges of importation and possession with the intent to distribute a controlled substance. He was turned over to agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for further investigation and prosecution by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.