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View all search resultsAuthorities raid illegal nitrous oxide storage amid abuse concerns
Various sizes of gas canisters to contain nitrous oxide were found to be allegedly stored in and distributed from a rental house in West Jakarta, which the food monitoring agency said was not fulfilling the food and drug manufacturing standards.
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Drug and Food Monitoring Agency (BPOM) head Taruna Ikrar inspects gas canisters for a nitrous oxide product during a press briefing on April 9 at the agency's office in Jakarta. The agency and the police suspected the product was distributed illegally as a recreational drug. (Antara/Dhemas Reviyanto)
T
he Drug and Food Monitoring Agency (BPOM) and police discovered a warehouse where cans of nitrous oxide were allegedly stored and illegally distributed as recreational drugs amid increasing reports of the chemical substance’s abuse.
During a raid on April 2, personnel with the BPOM and National Police Criminal Investigation Department found gas cylinders in various sizes branded as Baby Whip stored in a rented house in Cengkareng, West Jakarta. While marketed as food-related products, the packaging included instructions for inhalations.
“The cylinders carried ‘Do not inhale’ warning. But inside the box, there were instructions on how to inhale the gas, indicating Baby Whip was distributed for illegal purposes,” BPOM head Taruna Ikrar said in a press briefing on April 9.
Nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas, is typically used as propellant in the culinary industry as well as sedative in medical settings.
But it is also often abused to induce euphoria, especially in Europe and Western countries where the gas is typically released into balloons and inhaled. Usage without proper medical supervision may lead to oxygen deficiency, heart and respiratory failure and death.
Taruna also highlighted the inappropriate condition of the warehouse during the Baby Whip raid, as the products did not meet the good drug manufacturing practices.
