Ketamine goes missing from East Campus animal lab

Ten 10-milliliter vials of ketamine were reported missing from an animal research laboratory on East Campus on Sept. 28. For the past week, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Police Department has been conducting interviews, trying to figure out who had access to the controlled substance.

The drug is used in veterinary clinics around the country as an animal anesthetic. At UNL, it is used primarily on pigs.

The Federal Drug Administration put the drug on a list of controlled substances in 2000 as it has been sold as a street drug to produce a dissociative high, sort of like a combination between PCP and a date-rape drug.

David Hardin, head of the veterinary and biomedical sciences department, said his department is cooperating with the investigation and reevaluating how closely the drug is guarded.

"We're going to look at our procedures," Hardin said. "We thought we had it secured, but people can always find a way."

The lab where the ketamine was taken from is adjacent to the Veterinary Basic Science Building and is surrounded by a fence that can be manually opened at certain spots.

The veterinary science department is now looking into making the perimeter safe-guarded with an ID-scanning device, Hardin said.

Inside the lab, the ketamine isn't easily accessed. It is kept in a locked room with other drugs in its own locked cabinet. There was no damage, and there were no signs of a forced entry to either the room or the cabinet, Hardin said.

In theory, "not many" people know where the room is and where the key to the ketamine cabinet is kept, Hardin said. But part of the investigation into the burglary is to determine if that really is the case.

All clinics with the drug have to follow certain protocol to ensure the drug does not end up on the street. At UNL, ketamine is inventoried every time it is used. A lab employee with access to the ketamine has been interviewed by police but didn't want to be named. The employee said the drug isn't used frequently and could have been taken "any time in the last month."

About once a year, Lincoln police investigate a break-in at a veterinary clinic where someone is trying to steal ketamine, said Katie Flood, a public information officer with the Lincoln Police Department.

Carl Oestmann, director of patrol operations for UNL police, said the investigation is ongoing and declined to comment.

The value of the missing vials is listed at $100 on UNL police's Web site. According to the Department of Justice's Web site, each 10-milliliter vial contains ten hits that sell for $30 to $45 apiece illegally.

ryanboetel@dailynebraskan.com