N.J. seizure: Bags of white powder labeled 'ball bearings' really 22 pounds of 'gas station heroin'

Dec. 13 (UPI) -- Federal officials in New Jersey have seized two separate shipments of so-called "gas station heroin" imported from Hong Kong and totaling 22 pounds.

Both consignments were discovered at an international express consignment facility in southern New Jersey, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Authorities found multiple bags containing white powder in cargo labelled "deep groove ball bearings," and tested it.

One shipment was discovered in late November and the second was located earlier this month, weighing a combined 22 pounds and 8 ounces. Both were destined for an address in Edgewater, N.J.

Tests later revealed all bags contained tianeptine.

The tricyclic antidepressant is not approved for medical use in the United States but is sold in certain European, Asian and South American countries, according to the Mayo Clinic.

It is often advertised as a treatment for a variety of conditions, including anxiety, depression, and irritable bowel syndrome, according to CBP.

Tianeptine is frequently mixed with opioid drugs to heighten their strength. Individuals also use it with alcohol for the same reason.

The drug is "associated with serious health risks and even death," according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Though not approved, tianeptine is often sold illegally in American retail stores while being labeled as a dietary supplement.

"The exponential growth of the global marketplace has allowed nefarious opportunists an abundantly accessible supply of synthetic opioid and cannabinoid compounds that they then mix with other dangerous substances to create a potent and potentially deadly drug of abuse," CBP Area Port Director for the Area Port of Philadelphia Cleatus Hunt said in the agency's statement.

"Customs and Border Protection officers remain committed to working with our Food and Drug Administration partners to keep dangerous synthetic compounds out of the hands of criminal organizations by intercepting it at our nation's borders when we encounter it."