March 20, 2022- 7:47 p.m.
A man who arranged the shipment of more than 10 kilos of ketamine into the U. S. has pleaded guilty in federal court in Tulsa.
Federal prosecutors say Xiao Yang Zhang is a Chinese citizen living illegally in the United States and he pleaded guilty to drug conspiracy.
He admitted participating in a plan to bring ketamine into the U. S. through international shipments.
The ketamine was hidden in packages of retail goods so they would pass through U.S. Customs unnoticed.
Zhang rented two rooms in the Tulsa area for the purpose of receiving the packages of ketamine from France and Italy.
Zhang traveled to the Tulsa locations to retrieve the ketamine then transported the drug back to California for delivery to others.
While ketamine has accepted medical uses for short-term sedation and anesthesia, it is also illegally distributed for its hallucinogenic affects and to facilitate sexual assault.
Street names for the drug include Cat Tranquilizer, Cat Valium, Jet K, Kit Kat, Purple, Special K, Special La Coke, Super Acid, Super K, and Vitamin K. Learn more here.
In 2016, Zhang was arrested crossing the U.S. border from Mexico.
He was released pending immigration hearings but failed to appear.
Zhang will be sentenced at a later date.
As part of the plea agreement, Zhang will be deported following any sentence imposed by the Court.
