AUDIO – KEEP TRYING –
Nov. 15, 2024 – A new synthetic opiate that’s even deadlier than fentanyl is showing up in America’s illegal drug supply, officials warn. Nitazines were developed in the 1950s as painkillers, but they were too powerful and never received FDA approval. Now, illegal drug manufacturers are making them and mixing them into cocaine, meth, heroin, and counterfeit pills, according to Matthew Allen, special agent in charge for the DEA in Los Angeles.
“The amount of fentanyl that would fit on the top of a pen, you know, is deadly, and with nitazines being even more potent, I don’t have to explain that,” he told KNX News’ Emily Valdez.
Even more worrying: nitazines won’t show up on fentanyl test strips.
Allen said nitazines are mostly found in drugs on the East Coast, but he expects to see more of them soon in Southern California’s drug supply.
