Pubdate: Wed, 26 Jan 2011 Source: Province, The (CN BC) Copyright: 2011 Postmedia Network Inc. Contact: http://www2.canada.com/theprovince/letters.html Website: http://www.theprovince.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/476 Page: A18 Author: Jack Keating MASSIVE HAUL OF DATE-RAPE DRUG SEIZED The RCMP's federal drug squad and the Canada Border Services Agency have made the largest "date-rape" drug seizure in Canadian history. Details of the Ketamine bust at the Port of Vancouver will be released at a joint news conference by police and the CBSA at RCMP headquarters today. RCMP Const. Michael McLaughlin said the bust was "quite a bit" bigger than the 352 kilograms of the drug found in May last year in Vancouver concealed in a sea container destined for Toronto. "The 352 kilograms looks small beside this seizure," said a police source "This is far bigger." Ketamine is known on the street as "Special K" or "K" and is usually sold as a powder or concealed in tablets that can produce hallucinations, euphoria and out of body experiences. "The powder is odourless, colourless and it dissolves really easily in water," said McLaughlin. "It is used and has been used as a date-rape drug." Commercial Ketamine is a liquid that is used as a rapid-acting anesthetic drug, mainly by veterinarians. On its website, Health Canada says the drug is also known as big K, blind, breakfast cereal, cat tranquillizers, horsey P, K, keller, ket, ketalar, ketty, kit-kat, K-rod, lady K, special K, super K, vitamin K, squid and wonk. "It is a tranquillizer with hallucinogenic properties," said McLaughlin. "The tranquillizer effects are obviously the reason it can be used as a date-rape drug." - --- MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart