In just one bust officers discovered almost 48kg of cutting agent
Benzocaine, enough to yield cocaine with a street value of PS1.9m.
Available readily over the counter, these oral gels contain
benzocaine as their active ingredient.1
Benzocaine is a commonly used ester local anaesthetic to treat conditions such as oral pain due to teething, minor irritation, and sore throat.1,2
Experts calculated the street value of cocaine when cut with the 425kg of imported
benzocaine at more than PS30m.
In addition to avoiding using jewelry to relieve teething pain, the FDA continues to recommend that caregivers avoid using teething creams,
benzocaine gels, sprays, ointments, solutions and lozenges for mouth and gum pain.
Phillip Scarisbrick was sentenced to just short of a decade in jail for flooding North Wales with cocaine cutting agent
benzocaine.
* Avoid applying "-caine" products, such as
benzocaine Such creams may irritate the skin or cause an allergic reaction.
Liverpool Crown Court today heard they found 12 MDMA tablets, 527mg of cannabis and 7g of the anesthetic
benzocaine.
Over-the-counter teething products with
benzocaine in them are a safety risk to infants and children, says FDA, so it has asked marketers to stop selling them for use in relieving "sore gums due to teething."
The Food and Drug Administration said that various gels and creams containing the drug
benzocaine can cause rare but deadly side effects in children, especially those 2 years and younger.
The wholesale value of the cocaine was less than PS5,000, but police experts reckoned that if it was mixed with
benzocaine, which was also found, it would be worth up to PS25,440.
The tablets, which dissolve quickly in the mouth, do not contain numbing
benzocaine and are free of artificial flavors, dyes and parabens.