Hong Kong’s problem with date rape drug GBL sent by mail from Lithuania
Some 131kg of GBL, a clear and odourless industrial solvent, seized in the first four months this year – more than for all of 2017
A greater amount of a date rape drug was seized in Hong Kong in the first four months of this year than in the whole of 2017, customs figures show, with the chemical also finding its way to the city centre when previously it was mostly discovered in transshipment parcels.
A senior customs source said recent seizures of gamma-Butyrolactone (GBL) involved parcels from Lithuania, where the industrial solvent is legal, leading the authorities to believe drug traffickers were taking advantage of differences between the two jurisdictions to smuggle it into Hong Kong.
In all, 131kg of GBL, a clear and odourless industrial cleaner often used as a date rape drug, was seized in the first four months of the year.
In comparison customs confiscated 124kg of the chemical, with a street value of nearly HK$4 million (US$512,820), last year. The amount seized was 66 per cent less than in 2016. There were no seizures in the first four months last year.
GBL, a psychoactive substance, is a popular party drug. Users experience feelings of euphoria and reduced inhibitions. Stronger doses can cause sleepiness, confusion and dizziness.