Reuters-Thais seize big haul of clu

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Subject: Reuters-Thais seize big haul of club drug ``Special K'' 

Thais seize big haul of club drug ``Special K''
06:04 a.m. Jun 18, 1999 Eastern
BANGKOK, June 18 (Reuters) - Customs officials at Bangkok International
Airport said on Friday they had seized nearly 10,000 doses of Ketamine, a
veterinary anaesthetic that has become a popular hallucinogenic nightclub
drug.

The officials said they intercepted two shipments of the drug this week
which they believed had originated in the Pakistani city of Karachi.

They seized 3,800 10 millilitre doses from unclaimed luggage that arrived on
a Thai International flight from Karachi on Friday and another 5,530 that
came in on a Myanmar Airlines flight from Karachi on Wednesday.

Officials said the drugs had a Bangkok street value of about 50 million baht
($1.35 million).

``The drugs are believed to have originated from Pakistan and the prime
suspects a Pakistani and a Myanmar national,'' Customs Department spokesman
Anek Horathalai told reporters. However, he said no arrests had been made.

Ketamine, known on the U.S. night club circuit as Special K, is converted
into powder then inhaled. Its effects are similar to those of LSD and in
Thailand it has found some popularity among teenagers and those working in
the entertainment industry.