BUENOS AIRES — A former Missouri high school valedictorian was arrested at an Argentina airport after customs officers allegedly found a large supply of the party drug known as nitrate “poppers” packed in his suitcase — a haul sources said may rank as the biggest seizure of the substance ever made by customs agents.
Braiden John Wilson, 27, was stopped by Argentine customs officials at Ezeiza International Airport in Buenos Aires on Sept. 13, 2024, with roughly half a gallon of butyl nitrate, a chemical compound inhaled for a short-lived euphoric effect.
The previously unreported airport bust surfaced as Wilson, once a standout student in Bismarck High School’s class of 2017, wrapped up a favorable probation agreement last week.
According to court records, the substances — illegal in Argentina and classified in the United States as a “hazardous inhalant” that cannot be sold for human consumption — were divided among 55 vials bearing brand names such as “Rush,” “Gold Rush” and “Jungle Juice.”
“I like to use them socially,” Wilson told authorities following his arrest, the documents state. “I had absolutely no intention of selling them or smuggling them, which is why I did not have them hidden.
“You can buy them in any store and online. Poppers work very quickly –– as soon as you open them, they evaporate, which is why I had several bottles,” he explained.
Wilson also had five iPhones and a stack of cash on him, the docs show. Officials seized the phones and the $1,201 in cash.
The 27-year-old told the agents that he had traveled to Argentina for a friend’s birthday.
Official sources told The Post that it is by far the largest confiscation of poppers by Argentine customs officers in recent years, with most of the 76 seizures in the last two years typically ranging from one to five vials.
Wilson was charged with attempted smuggling of drug contraband and would have faced a three-year suspended prison sentence and strict monitoring if he was found guilty at a trial.
However, the child prodigy, who currently lives in New York City, struck a sweetheart probation deal that ordered him to pay a $1,200 donation to a public children’s hospital in Buenos Aires and $300 in reparations.
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Still, Wilson had to be ordered to appear in court on August 11 after forking over just $400.
In yet another sweetheart deal, he reached a new agreement to use the cash seized during his arrest after he argued that he was facing financial hardship.
The court signed off on the deal on August 28.
Butyl nitrate is a fast-acting substance, which, when inhaled, widens blood vessels and produces mild euphoria, dizziness and muscle relaxation.
Its recreational use is believed to be potentially dangerous for those with heart issues, anemia or glaucoma, and reported adverse effects include fainting, loss of vision and damage to the retina.
It wasn’t the first fall from grace for the one-time wunderkind.
Wilson ran into trouble with the law in May of 2017 — the year he graduated as valedictorian — when he was charged with ripping off his former employer, department store chain JCPenney.
The then-teen was accused of stealing over $2,000 through fraudulent returns at the store where he worked in Farmington, Missouri — admitting to investigators that he thought he deserved the cash, Fox 2 Now reported at the time.
“The reason he gave, his indication was that he felt like he was treated poorly by management and that he was entitled to or owed the items he took,” St. Francois County prosecuting attorney Jerrod Mahurin told the outlet.
Wilson pleaded guilty to misdemeanor theft in May 2018 and was handed a suspended 180-day jail sentence, two years of unsupervised probation, and ordered to pay costs, court records show.
The Post reached out to Wilson to ask for comment but did not hear back.