US: 70,000 prescription pills found in yarn shipment from India

The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has seized nearly 70,000 prescription pills worth USD 33,000 from a shipment of yarn from India.

The shipment was destined for an address in Buena Park, California, CBP officials said.

The pills, labelled Zolpidem Tartrate, are classified by the Drug Enforcement Administration as a Schedule IV controlled substance and belong to a class of medications called sedative-hypnotics. It is prescribed by doctors to treat insomnia.

CBP officers examined the shipment of 96 rolls of black yarn at an air cargo warehouse near Washington Dulles Airport on December 17.

They discovered a combined 69,813 pills concealed inside each of the 96 spools of black yarn. The pills had a domestic value of about USD 33,000, a media release said.

“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 officers,” said Christine Waugh, CBP’s Area Port Director for the Area Port of Washington, DC.