What started as a routine Customs and Border Protection examination at Washington Dulles International Airport of a shipment of yarn from India ended in the seizure of nearly 70,000 zolpidem tartrate pills (marketed under the brand name Ambien) on January 16.
Officers initially examined the shipment, consisting of 96 rolls of black yarn spooled around pink tubes, at an air cargo warehouse near Washington Dulles International Airport on December 17. The shipment was destined for an address in Buena Park, Calif.
The officers unspooled the black yarn of one tube and discovered multiple 10-pill blister packs taped to the pink tube. They then checked the remaining 95 yarn spools and discovered that they also concealed similar pill blister packs.
Zolpidem, a sedative-hypnotic for insomnia, is classified by the Drug Enforcement Administration as a Schedule IV controlled substance.
In total, Customs and Border Protection officers discovered a combined 69,813 pills concealed inside each of the 96 spools of black yarn. The pills weighed a collective 60 pounds and had a domestic value of about $33,000.
CBP officers seized the zolpidem on January 16.
“This is a very bold attempt to smuggle a significant amount of prescription medicine into the United States, but this creative concealment method failed to fool Customs and Border Protection [CBP] officers,” says Christine Waugh, Customs and Border Protection’s Area Port Director for the Area Port of Washington, DC, in a release. “CBP officers are committed to protecting the public by intercepting illicit and potentially dangerous products that arrive at our nation’s ports of entry every day.”
