GHB is an odorless and colorless liquid often slipped into a unsuspecting individual's drink. It causes drowsiness, dizziness, memory impairment, slurred speech, loss of consciousness, and, in some cases, death. Overdoses of GHB are common because the difference between a "safe" dose and an overdose is tiny. However, just as problematic is the fact that GHB renders its victim insensible for a number of hours. When the victim becomes conscious, he or she has no recollection of what may have happened under the influence of the drug.

There are fears that GHB is becoming a drug of choice for date rapists, who use it to sedate their victims so they can be attacked. Teenagers and young adults are often warned about predators who could spike their drinks with the drug. Yet, over the last two fiscal years, Customs has witnessed an 1,800 percent increase in the amount of GHB and GBL (Gamma-Butyrolactone, an ingredient of GHB) it has seized entering the country. Last fiscal year U.S. Customs made 47 seizures of the drugs; this fiscal year there have been 900, nearly all of them at the Canadian border.

Gamma-Butyrolactone (GBL) virtually concerts to GHB once ingested in the body. Traffickers commonly sell GBL as GHB. Before being labeled a List 1 chemical, GBL was sold as a body building supplement. In legitimate industries, GBL is used as an intermediate agent in manufacturing industrial cleaners and solvents.

This boom in the number of GHB seizures - especially those coming into the United States from Canada - prompted a joint-agency investigation called Operation Webslinger. The first federal investigation of Internet traffickers of GHB ended in a nationwide crackdown on two Web sites and their distributors who sold GHB, GBL, and 1,4 Butanediol (BD) over the Internet to teenagers and young adults. Moreover, some customers were major distributors of the drugs.

It all began with Customs...
In October 2001, the SAIC/Buffalo Office learned that Customs inspectors at the Buffalo Mail Facility had begun to intercept packages from Canada destined for numerous locations within the United States. Information obtained from the shipping labels indicated that the packages contained various types of cleaning solvents. Search of the packages revealed one and two liter bottles of a clear substance testing positive for GBL.

By January 2002, Customs inspectors at the Buffalo Mail Facility had detained over 750 packages, all suspected of containing bottles of GBL. The suspect had mailed these packages from Canada.

At this point, the Customs SAIC/Buffalo Office joined forces with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to open up a formal investigation.

Working with Canadian Law Enforcement (RCMP and OPP), Customs agents identified the supplier of the GBL, who resided and operated out of the Toronto area. At the core of the drug ring was a Canadian suspect accused of operating a Web site that allegedly sold over 5,000 orders of GHB "kits," as well as quantities of GBL and BD. Most of the customers resided in the United States. U.S. and Canadian authorities seized quantities of GBL valued at more than $170 million. Payments for the drugs were made online by credit card. The brazen supplier then packaged and shipped the drugs through the postal service.

Most of the GBL compound was bound for the United States and Europe, where it might have sold for $280 per packet. The supplier also sent the drugs to dozens of other countries. The drug operation had solid success with online orders. It took an average of 160 orders each day. What makes the situation more complicated is that GBL is legal in Canada but not in the United States.

By May 2002, Customs agents learned about a second Web site that sold GBL in larger quantities - about 900 orders for GBL placed over a 30-day period - to individuals living in the United States. The Web site owner lived in Quebec City, Canada. That didn't stop Canadian law enforcement authorities from arresting the suspect, conducting a search of his home, obtaining information on his customers, and seizing thousands of gallons of GBL.

By September 2002, federal authorities broke up four Internet drug rings operating in the United States and Canada: St. Louis (Mo.), Detroit (Mich.), San Diego (Calif.), Mobile (Ala.), Sparta (Tenn.), Buffalo (N.Y.), and Quebec City (Canada). The bottom line? One hundred fifteen arrests in 84 cities and the seizure of enough chemicals for 25 million doses of GHB and similar substances.

Masked drug dealers
The Internet provides quick and easy access to the buying and selling of many products and services, but when illegal drugs and chemicals are sold over the Internet that's a different story. "This takedown is a dose of harsh reality for drug traffickers who seek to exploit the vast markets and anonymity of cyberspace," said Attorney General John Ashcroft at a press conference on September 19.

DEA has documented 72 deaths from GHB, GBL, and BD, and at least one of those deaths may be attributed to drugs sold by the suspects arrested in this investigation. "The Internet is no longer a safe haven where drug dealers can hide," said Ashcroft. "Our campuses, our neighborhoods, our communities are safer places for young women today because cyberspace just got more dangerous for drug traffickers."

History of GHB In the 1980s GHB was considered a safe drug. GHB was used as an antidepressant and sleep aid, and by body builders who used it as a muscle growth stimulant. By 1990, based on the increased number of overdoses, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) declared GHB unsafe. Congress outlawed GHB about three years ago. But in July 2002, FDA approved GHB as a treatment for narcolepsy, a rare sleeping disorder, which means that the drug is available through medical channels.