'Bath salts' drug bound for Okanagan

RCMP Sgt. Thiessen announces the seizure of 16 kilograms of 'bath salts' bound for West Kelowna.

(ADAM PROSKIW / iNFOnews.ca)

October 24, 2013 - 3:16 PM

KELOWNA - Police are warning the public that a large shipment of a notorious new synthetic drug known as ‘bath salts’ was due to hit Okanagan streets before it was intercepted by RCMP and Canadian Border Services.

Police seized 16 kilograms of Methylone, one of a group of drugs known on the street as ‘bath salts.’ The drugs were mailed to a West Kelowna business last month where police arrested two women. RCMP spokesperson Sgt. Peter Thiessen says until now it's primarily found in the UK and the United States where early headlines have caused confusion and hysteria. Its effects are similar to methamphetamine or crystal meth.

Now that it’s headed for B.C. in a big way, police say this is the time for education and awareness.

“For those within the community who seek to profit from the importation and sale of these products, be warned that the RCMP and our partner agencies will continue to aggressively pursue every law enforcement option available to us in order to safeguard British Columbia and Canada,” Thiessen said.

Kelowna is already dealing with a number of new and potentially dangerous drugs on the street including fentanyl and ‘dirty heroin.' Often they are mistaken for other drugs and the results are potentially fatal. That’s part of the problem with ‘bath salts’—it’s new and has no consistency, making it difficult for drug users to know how much to take.

The discovery was made Aug. 23 by the Canada Border Service mail centre in Vancouver. Investigators discovered a package containing approximately five kilograms of a light brown powder, commercially sealed in foil and declared as table salt. Two days later, a second and third parcel of equal size was intercepted, destined for the same address. All were shipped from China.

“This drug is potentially lethal and is often sold to youth and other vulnerable members of society,” said Heather Ardiel, border service spokesperson.

The drug is called 'bath salts' because it looks very similar to, well, bath salts or Epsom salts. The drug contains a combination of amphetamine-type stimulants as well as other, often unknown, ingredients.

The names and ages of the two West Kelowna women will not be released until the investigation concludes and specific charges are brought against them.