On June 11, 2025, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers in Baltimore confiscated 695 pounds of the psychedelic substance DMT from shipments that were headed to Harford County, Maryland, from Mexico. The estimated street value of the drug, a Schedule I hallucinogen with no recognized medical use in the United States, was $555,000.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials in Baltimore confiscated 695 pounds of dimethyltryptamine, a hallucinogenic substance similar to LSD, on June 11 that was headed to a residence in Harford County, Maryland, according to the news release issued on Tuesday, June 24.
Due to its psychedelic and hallucinogenic qualities, dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a schedule I prohibited narcotic, was a common drug of abuse in the 1960s. Along with other tryptamine hallucinogens, DMT is still sold illegally today. For an LSD-like high, abusers can inject, smoke, snort, or take DMT orally in beverages like ayahuasca. Those who prefer the psychedelic experience to the mind-altering effects of other hallucinogens, such as LSD, are drawn to the strong, brief effects.
In the US, DMT has no recognized medical purpose.
Three packages that came in as air freight from Chiapas, Mexico between May 7 and May 27 were seized. There were four boxes and 100 vacuum-sealed bags in each shipment. A brown, powdery material was found when CBP officials randomly selected and inspected a subset of the vacuum-sealed bags from each cargo.
For a thorough laboratory analysis, CBP officials sent two bags of the brown, powdery material from every consignment to scientists at CBP Laboratories and Scientific Services. The chemical was determined to be DMT by CBP experts on June 6.
The overall weight of the 300 vacuum-sealed DMT parcels was 315.5 kg, or around 695 pounds, 9 ounces, and its estimated street value was $555,000.
Officers from CBP confiscated the DMT. The probe is still ongoing.
According to Jason Kropiewnicki, CBP’s Acting Area Port Director in Baltimore, the global marketplace has made it possible for dishonest individuals in our communities to order deadly narcotics, like DMT, from foreign producers that have the ability to harm and even kill abusers. Customs and Border Protection’s border security mission continues to depend heavily on inspecting imports, and seizures like this one are one way CBP protects our communities.
Last year, across our country’s air, land, and sea ports of entry, CBP officers and agents recovered an average of 1,571 pounds of deadly drugs every day. View the accomplishments of CBP throughout A Typical Day in 2024. Go to www.CBP.gov to learn more.
CBP officers and agriculture specialists from the Office of Field Operations lead the CBP border security mission at our country’s ports of entry. CBP inspects foreign visitors and cargo and looks for illegal drugs, unreported currency, weapons, fake goods, prohibited agriculture, invasive pests and weeds, and other illegal items that might endanger American citizens, American companies, and the safety and economic health of our country.
For breaking news, current affairs, human interest articles, and images, follow the Director of CBP’s Baltimore Field Office on Twitter at @DFOBaltimore. You can also follow the CBP Office of Field Operations on Instagram at @cbpfieldops.
