TRENTON, N.J. (AP) _ Two brothers were arrested for allegedly using the Internet to sell $200,000 in kits for making so-called date rape drugs, New Jersey Attorney General John J. Farmer Jr. said Friday.
Jeffrey Suggs, 33, and Kenneth Suggs, 29, who live in Mount Pleasant, S.C., were arrested Thursday and were being held without bond Friday in South Carolina.
They were charged in New Jersey with conspiracy to possess and manufacture a chemical used to make date rape drugs.
Authorities in other states, including Michigan, also were considering charges against the brothers.
The two men used the Internet to advertise kits containing the chemical GHB, or gamma hydroxybutyrate, Farmer said.
The drug is a depressant that has been used in sexual assaults throughout the country. In sufficient quantities, it causes loss of consciousness and it usually leaves the victim with little or no memory of the attack. Since 1990, the odorless synthetic drug has been linked to at least 32 deaths, the Drug Enforcement Administration has said.
If convicted, the men face prison sentences of five to 10 years and fines of up to $150,000.
Investigators who searched the men's home and a nearby storage center seized two personal computers, financial records, packaging jars and a partly filled, 55-gallon drum of GBL, or gamma butrylactone. GBL is used in the production of GBH.
The investigation began in March, when an investigator with the New Jersey Attorney General's Office's found the GBL being sold on various Web sites. Investigators were able to buy nine kits, each including instructions on how to produce GHB.
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