WASHINGTON, D.C. (WRIC) — A Washington, D.C. man has pleaded guilty to illegal importation of Gamma Butyrolactone, a controlled substance.
According to the United States Department of Justice, on Dec. 26, 2022, Customs and Border Protection officers at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City inspected an international package addressed to 39-year-old Jonathan Montiethe Perry of Washington, D.C. and found it to have contained five unmarked plastic bottles filled with a clear liquid.
The liquid was tested and determined to be Gamma Butyrolactone (GBL). It is estimated that the package contained a total of five liters of GBL, weighing around 5 kilograms.
On Jan. 5, 2023, an undercover officer delivered the package to an apartment complex, where it was seen being picked up by Perry. Shortly after, Perry was followed and seen going into another apartment complex and into an apartment with the package.
Police waited several minutes before knocking on the door and announcing their presence. Armed with a search warrant, they went inside and found Perry, who was arrested without incident.
Inside the apartment, police also found the package, as well as a laptop with USPS’s package tracking website open, hundreds of empty plastic pill capsules and various empty vials.
According to the National Library of Medicine, GBL is used as an ingredient in heavy duty cleaners, as well as in fragrances and as a flavoring agent. It can also be used as an analog for gamma hydroxybutyric acid (GHB), which is used illicitly in several ways, including as a growth hormone, a recreational drug with “intoxicant and euphoric effects” and a “weapon for sexual assault.”
