U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) says yellow liquid in vials seized at the Blue Water Bridge at Port Huron, Michigan in January has been identified as anabolic steroids.
An express consignment package originating from London, Ontaro, headed to a Miami suburb, was targeted for inspection January 18, 2017.
CBP spokesman Ken Hammond says the manifest for the package said it contained automotive brake pads but instead officers found 60 vials of yellow liquid wrapped in tin foil and bubble wrap.
"We opened up the package and found the contents which were not automotive brake pads, they were in fact a yellow liquid substance," says Hammond. "We couldn't make a determination as to what it was at the border so we sent it off to our laboratory and scientific services lab for analysis and they returned with a determination there was anabolic steroids."
Identification of the substance was made by the lab Monday, March 13. Anabolic steroids are snythetic drugs known for their performance enhancing capabilities and are controlled substances under U.S. federal regulations.
Hammond says CBP officers did a great job in interdicting the mislabelled shipment.
"It's common when someone wants to smuggle items through the mail, they typically won't be in a real person's name especially if there's nefarious activity going on," he says. "We see this a lot with contraband that we seize at the border, especially through the mail."
-With files from Josh Boyce