Never heard of HU-210. Maybe the local heads here know about it?
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2/3/2009 11:05:00 PM Email this article • Print this article

HU-210 was disguised as incense. HU-210 is 100 to 800 times more potent than natural THC from cannabis. (Contributed photo)

Drugs shipped as incense seized at DHL

ROSE COOPER
County Editor


More than 100 pounds of a synthetic drug 100 to 800 times stronger than the most potent marijuana was recently seized in a shipment at DHL Air Park in Wilmington.

Customs and Border Protection field operations officers and agriculture specialists stationed at the DHL express consignment operations in Wilmington, made the discovery and seized five separate shipments of herbal incense containing a synthetic cannabinoid, HU-210.

Customs officers and agriculture specialists performed a manifest review targeted for examination of two arriving international shipments originating out of the Czech Republic and manifested as “herbal incense.” Upon examination by Customs, the one-carton shipments contained numerous individual pouches labeled “Spice Diamond” and “Spice Artic Energy.”

The federal agents opened the three-gram packets and discovered a brown plant material inside. The substance inside the packets was immediately field tested for the presence of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) but yielded negative results.

The plant material was sent to the Customs and Border Protection laboratory for further testing to determine the presence of narcotics. Laboratory results confirmed the substance contained a verifiable amount of HU-210, a Schedule I controlled substance and a synthetic cannabinoid.

HU-210 is 100 to 800 times more potent than natural THC from cannabis, said a Customs spokesman.

The shipments containing HU-210 were seized by Customs, with the most recent seizure occurring on Jan. 13. The shipment was alerted on by a U.S. Customs narcotic detector dog for the presence of narcotics.

The total gross weight of 46 kg or over 100 lbs. of this prohibited substance was seized by Customs agents.

“This very unique discovery of the narcotic HU-210 is possibly the first of its kind for CBP (Customs and Porder Protection),” said David Murphy, U.S. Customs and Border Protection director of Field Operations in Chicago. “I would like to commend the fine work that the CBP field operations officers and agriculture specialist displayed by detecting and eventually confirming the presence of a Schedule I controlled substance.”

Customs and Border Protection officers are stationed at express consignment facilities throughout the United States. Customs processes, examines and releases all parcels arriving from a foreign point of origin. All shipments are processed through a radiation portal to ensure that radioactive materials do not enter this country.

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 U.S. borders at and between official ports of entry. Customs is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.