Officials from the U.S. Coast Guard have reported that a potent powder known among users and traffickers as “pink cocaine” is gaining momentum in the United States.

• Experimental Drug to Treat Depression Without Narcotic Side Effects

According to the American magazine “Newsweek”, authorities seized more than 140 pounds of this highly potent hallucinogenic substance during four-month patrols off the coasts of Central and South America, which ended in early June.

Law enforcement officials and drug abuse experts told the magazine that “the drug, also known as Tusi, has spread to the streets across Latin America and parts of Europe.” This illicit mix, sold at a low price of $10 per gram, usually does not contain cocaine, despite its nickname.

• Gunfire exchange between police and drug traffickers in Baghdad 

Instead, the powder, widely colored with food dyes, contains ketamine, along with small amounts of MDMA (ecstasy) pills, methamphetamine, or opioids.

Bridget Brennan, New York City’s special narcotics prosecutor, said on Wednesday: “Any consumer would certainly expect there to be cocaine in something marketed as pink cocaine. But interestingly, it is very rare to actually find it.”

• A drug dealer commits “the dumbest act imaginable” and is arrested by the police, facing charges

Brennan’s office first encountered drugs containing ketamine in January 2023, when authorities arrested Carlos Asturias, 51, in Manhattan with 10 pounds of what is called “pink cocaine“.

However, subsequent lab tests revealed that the strange powder was “pure ketamine,” a dissociative anesthetic with mild hallucinogenic effects.

The magazine noted that “ketamine use, a popular drug available in powder or liquid form, can cause severe loss of consciousness or breathing difficulties.” Brennan stated: “A person who thinks they are getting cocaine and ends up with a very strong dose of ketamine may lose consciousness completely.”

• Surpassing Drugs… Growing Criminal Industry Worldwide

• Drug trafficking: nine alleged members of the Caliweed network charged in Paris

Joseph Palamar, an associate professor and drug researcher at New York University’s “Langone Health” hospital, published a study last year detailing the “new ketamine mix” that has confused users and authorities.

The compound has been discovered throughout the UK, Switzerland, Australia, and Canada, according to Palamar’s study published in May 2023.