Internal CBP Newsletter Notes de Minimis Smuggling in Drugs, Guns, Contact Lenses

A CBP newsletter shared that JFK's International Mail Facility in New York has been using a non-intrusive detection tool since 2021 to look for illicit opioids, and it has been effective enough to expand to other ports of entry.

JFK sees the highest volume of de minimis shipments -- more than 750,000 most days - and Andrew Renna, assistant port director for cargo operations at JFK Airport, told the writer that they are stopping xylazine, an animal tranquilizer that is being mixed with illegal drugs with severe health consequences, and nitazene compounds, opioids that are even stronger than fentanyl, quite regularly.

"Earlier this month, we seized almost a pound of nitazene that was going to a private residence in South Carolina. It was shipped from the United Kingdom,” he said. “Unfortunately, here at JFK, we’re seeing xylazine and nitazenes at least a few times a week in quantities ranging from just a few grams to upwards of a pound or more."

The article also described how CBP officers look for discrepancies, such as a manifest that said a grease gun had been sent from Russia. Grease guns only cost about $10 to $15 in a store, but the air freight bill was $75, and the disclosed value was $25, which made the officer suspicious. It turned out to contain a grease gun, but inside that item were parts that can convert a semi-automatic firearm into a machine gun.

The article described a one-week examination blitz at Los Angeles' international mail facility and its express courier hub, as well as other ports. Just in LA, CBP officers opened 91 packages of contact lenses from South Korea, and none met FDA standards.

The article also described a master carton shipment opened for a random exam in San Francisco. The box had come from Canada. It had been sent from South Korea to Canada, but originated in China. The manifest said "mobile phone shell."

"Inside the master carton, the examining officers found 14 pre-labeled packages ready to be sent to a fulfillment warehouse in Plain City, Ohio. Each package contained 2.2 pounds of a white, crystalline material in a sealed bag. The officers tested the substance and positively identified it as N,N-dimethylpentylone or dipentylone, a synthetic cathinone stimulant on the DEA’s Schedule 1 controlled substance list," the article said. Officers found 17 more master cartons, all from China via South Korea, and the agency ended up raiding the warehouse in Plain City, Ohio, where they were going. They found more than 1,760 pounds of narcotics.