BUENOS AIRES –– A former Missouri high school valedictorian was busted smuggling a massive stash of the party drug nitrate “poppers” into Argentina in his suitcase — in what sources said could be the largest seizure of the drug by customs agents.
Braiden John Wilson, 27, was caught by Argentine customs officers with around half a gallon of butyl nitrate — a chemical compound that produces a brief euphoria when inhaled — at Ezeiza airport in Buenos Aires on Sept. 13, 2024.
The bust, which had not previously been reported, came to light as the former whiz kid from the Bismarck High School class of 2017 completed a sweetheart probation deal last week.
The drugs –– which are illegal in the South American country and classed as a “hazardous inhalant” that cannot be sold for human consumption in the US –– were in 55 vials with brand names including “Rush,” “Gold Rush” and “Jungle Juice,” according to court documents.
“I like to use them socially,” Wilson told authorities after his arrest, according to the docs. “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.
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.
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