Border services officers seize over 17,000 litres of substance used to produce date-rape drug

The Pacific Region Intelligence Section, with assistance from the National Targeting Centre, identified a container of interest, and referred it for examination. Border Services Officers from Metro Vancouver Marine Operations examined the container using a wide range of detection tools and technology, and collected samples from multiple drums. These samples were sent to the CBSA’s Contraband Drug Analysis Section in Ottawa.

The analysis confirmed that the substance was gamma-butyrolactone, a controlled substance also known as ‘GBL’. GBL is a Class A Precursor in Part 1 of Schedule VI of the Controlled Drug and Substances Act, that is essential to the production of other controlled substances, such as “date-rape” drugs. In total, the CBSA seized 17,852.5 litres of GBL with an estimated street value of over $1.8 million.