Drug interdiction agents in Panama seized a major shipment of pink cocaine that was intended to reach Costa Rica before being repackaged and smuggled to the United States and Europe.

According to a news report filed by Manuel Estrada of daily tabloid Diario Extra, the National Police of Colombia worked together with Panamanian law enforcement to arrest Alejandro Arboleda Uribe, a cartel leader who is known as the “Pablo Escobar of designer drugs.” At the time of the arrest, Mr. Arboleda was preparing to send more shipments of pink cocaine to Costa Rica, a nation that in the last few decades has become a waypoint for controlled substances as they make their way to the Mexican drug cartels for further distribution worldwide, but primarily to the United States.

Pink cocaine is not made from coca leaves. It is a synthetic drug that is sometimes called Nexus or Venus. Essentially, pink cocaine is 2C-B, 2,5-dimethoxy-4-bromophenethylamine, a psychedelic that is sometimes sold as Ecstasy or Molly. When MDMA was mostly distributed in pill form, many drug users actually consumed 2C-B. Now that MDMA is being marketed as Molly in powdered form, some users are unaware that they may be getting 2C-B instead. In some cases, pink cocaine may even be ketamine.

In a 2014 article by Gordon Dillow of Diálogo Americas, pink cocaine was reported to be:

the drug of choice among affluent users in Colombia’s urban area, supplanting ordinary cocaine, authorities said. Pink cocaine has gained popularity despite the fact it costs up to $75 (USD) per dose, compared to $5 (USD) for a gram of ordinary cocaine.

Synthetic drugs are attractive to organized crime groups because they are easier to manufacture and transport than regular cocaine, and command much higher prices.

Law enforcement agents in Costa Rica have not reported instances of pink cocaine on the streets.