• Seven people are under investigation for having received a total of 387 bottles of this 'New Psychoactive Substance' ('NPS') in the last four months from France and Portugal

• The recipients stated that the dangerous stimulant substance was offered at gatherings for the purpose of engaging in sexual practices.

• The shipment declarations masked the true contents under concepts such as "leather cleaner" or "aromatic air freshener" in an attempt to avoid detection of the packages.

November 20, 2025. Customs Surveillance officials from the Tax Agency and agents of the Civil Guard have managed to seize in Tenerife more than 13,800 doses of the 'New Psychoactive Substance' ('NPS') known as 'popper' sent by postal parcel from France and Portugal through seven different shipments over the last four months. The seven individuals who received this dangerous stimulant substance are under investigation for these acts.

As part of the detection of shipments of illicit goods via postal parcels, the Operational Unit of the Customs Surveillance Service of the Tax Agency in Tenerife and the Fiscal and Border Section of the Civil Guard in the Port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife located in July of this year a first shipment of 24 bottles containing a total of 720 ml. of the drug. The package had arrived on the island by boat from Maia (Portugal). This first shipment was followed by six others with different declared contents, such as "leather cleaner" or "aromatic air freshener" to hide the true contents of the packages and try to avoid detection of the drugs. The last shipment, made at the beginning of this month of November, already included 216 bottles, with more than 4,800 ml. of drugs.

According to the prescribed dosage, the maximum dose in adults is 0.6 ml, so the total amount of 'poppers' seized, 8,332 ml, represents 13,886 doses for the seven intercepted shipments, six of them sent from France and the one mentioned from Portugal.

As a result of these actions, the seven people who received shipments of this substance via mail have been investigated for the crime of drug trafficking. According to statements from the investigated parties themselves, the substance is used to be offered at meetings for the purpose of carrying out sexual practices. The seven suspects, along with the seized substance, have been presented at the Court of Instruction of San Cristóbal de La Laguna, on duty.

Serious health risk

The 'popper', belonging to the commonly called 'New Psychoactive Substances' ('NPS'), is a product considered a drug by health authorities created from volatile alkyl nitrites.

It contains short-acting vasodilators that cause relaxation of muscle fibers and, as a result of its misuse, can cause numerous adverse effects, including neurological damage, methemoglobinemia, respiratory depression, etc.

Outside of the healthcare setting, 'popper' is used illicitly as a recreational drug for its stimulant, psychological, and sexual properties.

This is a product subject to prior authorization for production and marketing registration by the Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products, an authorization that none of the investigated parties had. Without the required authorization, it is prohibited to circulate as postal shipments products whose free circulation is not permitted for reasons of security, public health, general utility and protection of postal services, including narcotics and psychotropic substances.