On Thursday, June 17, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officers in Memphis, Tennessee examined a package described in the paperwork by the shipper as “AS PER INVOICE – PERSONAL USE.” The shipment was sent from London, United Kingdom, to a residence in the Seventh Ward of The Big Easy, New Orleans.
Inside the shipment were two bags, one containing assorted clothes, such as underwear and t-shirts, and the other bag contained an assortment of very British snacks: McVittie’s Digestive Milk Chocolate Biscuits, Strawberry Mallow Teacakes, cream crackers, and other biscuits Americans never eat. However, inside these food packages was not bland, starchy snacks but over eight pounds of a narcotic analgesic called Clovidol 100sr in pill form. It is a habit-forming pain medicine that acts on the central nervous system to relieve pain. It is used to treat moderate to severe pain in adults, usually after a surgery or severe injury. However, over eight pounds of pills seems excessive for the “personal use” as the manifest stated.
The pills were seized and held for future destruction. No arrests were made though the shipper and recipient have been noted for future scrutiny.
This seizure took place within the Area Port of Memphis, which covers ports of entry throughout the state of Tennessee and falls under CBP’s New Orleans Field Office. This Field Office includes all ports in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas and Tennessee.
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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 our nation’s borders at and between official ports of entry. CBP is charged with securing the borders of the United States while enforcing hundreds of laws and facilitating lawful trade and travel.