Heroin laced with elephant tranquilizers is the latest fatal opioid mix

World Today

Heroin

It’s the latest front in the U.S. war on drugs: Heroin laced with synthetic opioids. First it was fentanyl, which is 50 times more lethal than heroin. Now, it’s carfentanil, which is nearly 100 times deadlier.

The drug combination is fueling a deadly epidemic.

CGTN’s Hendrik Sybrandy reports on law enforcement efforts in the U.S. state of Colorado.

The opioid epidemic has taken on a new, even more troubling dimension with a drug that’s even more powerful than those of the past. Heroin is being mixed with carfentanil, a highly potent synthetic opioid that’s used to sedate large animals, like elephants.

This drug combination is believed to have caused 60 overdoses across two U.S. states in one 48-hour period last year. It’s been linked to hundreds of deaths. It’s relatively cheap for drug suppliers to produce, and offers users the lure of a stronger high.

Experts have said opioids, like heroin laced with carfentanil, often arrive in the U.S. through the mail. It’s very hard to screen packages. It’s very hard to find the labs where the drugs are made.