Woman nabbed at airport for allegedly smuggling large amount of drug sometimes used by rapists

A woman was arrested overnight between Tuesday and Wednesday at Ben Gurion Airport on suspicion of smuggling a large amount of a substance thought to be gamma-butyrolactone, or GBL, a dangerous party drug known as “G” that rapists sometimes use to spike victims’ drinks.

The suspect is a resident of central Israel in her 30s and is still in custody after a court extended her remand, police tell The Times of Israel.

Channel 12 reports the woman returned from Europe carrying 30 liters (7.9 gallons) of the substance in 18 bottles. A source familiar with the investigation is quoted by the network saying it was the largest smuggling of GBL in the history of Ben Gurion Airport.

The suspect’s lawyer, Yarom Halevy, tells Channel 12 that someone exploited his client and that the suspect thought the bottles contained a cleaning substance.

Dr. Roy Zucker, director of LGBTQ health services at the Clalit HMO and at Tel Aviv’s Sourasky Medical Center, writes on social media that 30 liters of GBL is at least 15,000 doses’ worth.

The large amount reflects demand among Israeli partygoers for the potentially deadly substance, Zucker writes, adding that GBL’s popularity began at gay nightclubs but has since seen an “insane rise in use” and is now used by “everyone.”

The substance causes an increased sex drive, and some users “become very aggressive,” Zucker writes. “Between enjoying it and dying from it, sometimes the difference is a single milliliter, or one incorrect mix.”