Philly CBP officers seize yarn shipment containing thousands of Xanax pills

PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — An elaborate effort to ship Xanax pills to Brooklyn, New York, unraveled last week when federal authorities in Philadelphia found the drugs hidden inside spools of yarn.

On April 26, Customs and Border Protection officers in Philadelphia were alerted a suspicious package was being flown in from the Netherlands.

Officers X-rayed the parcel, then opened it. CBP spokesman Steve Sapp says the spools were heavier than they should have been if they were just yarn.

"We start taking a look inside that spool, and that's when our officers discovered that there are all these blister packs taped together on the inner part of the spool, covered up by all this yarn."

He says they’ve seen previous seizures come in from the Netherlands that include anything from steroids to human growth hormones to prescription medications.

Sapp says, in all, the shipment contained more than 10,000 Alprazolam pills.

Alprazolam is sold under the brand name Xanax to manage panic disorders but is also illegally used as a recreational drug. When combined with other substances, like alcohol, it can slow breathing and possibly lead to death.

Sapp says the pills, which had a street value of $30,000, were bound for an address in Brooklyn. No one there has been arrested, but Sapp says the investigation continues.