Arizona tried to illegally import execution drug: Documents

Arizona tried to illegally import a lethal injection drug that’s not approved in the US but never obtained it after federal agents stopped the shipment at the Phoenix airport, according to documents.

Arizona paid nearly $27,000 for sodium thiopental, an anesthetic that has been used to carry out executions but is no longer manufactured by FDA-approved companies, the documents said. When the drugs arrived via British Airways at the Phoenix International Airport, they were seized by federal officials and have not been released, according to the documents obtained by The Associated Press. “The department is contesting FDA’s legal authority to continue to withhold the state’s execution chemicals,” state Department of Corrections spokesman Andrew Wilder said on Thursday. The documents obtained by the AP were released as part of a lawsuit against the department over transparency in executions. The AP is a party in lawsuit.