04 December 2023 , 16:56
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A killer drug is set to flood the UK’s streets as a heroin replacement following the Taliban’s ban on growing opium poppies - and the ‘Frankenstein’ substance could also spark a huge gang war.
Nitazenes, which are 50 times more powerful than fentanyl and designed to mimic opioids, have already left 49 people dead across the United Kingdom. But they are surging in popularity and could spike in prevalence further still as the supply of heroin drops.
A police raid in North London last month found 150,000 tablets of the drug alongside £60,000 in cash. When nitazenes infiltrate the drug supply on the streets it can prove fatal as it is often stronger than the user expects. In Dublin, 40 heroin addicts overdosed in just 36 hours after the tablets became accessible.
Officers released this photo of pills seized during a raid in OctoberBut it isn’t just the drug users who will be impacted and drug bosses could see bloodshed too with a drugs war involving new Chinese suppliers. They are believed to be a key player in the supply of nitazenes and their involvement could unleash chaos with rival gangs, reports The Sun.
Drug expert Tony D’Agostino explained: “They are called Frankenstein drugs because they can be mixed with tablets or powder. They don’t have a ‘face’ or any sort of look. Now underground chemists are looking for these sorts of drugs as the heroin supply from Afghanistan starts to run out. We know some have come in from China, where batches are made in factories. If Chinese gangs move in on the market, it could cause real division with different groups of dealers.”
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Drug service Wedinos tested batches of pills and heroin last month and found nitazenes in nine of them. It showed the dangerous substance had already infiltrated several parts of the UK where the drug was found, including Barnsley, Coventry, Eastbourne, Cardiff and also parts of Northern Ireland.
Crime and policing minister Chris Philp said: “These new highly dangerous substances have the potential to devastate lives, ruin families and damage communities. Our strategy is to tackle both the illicit supply of drugs by relentlessly pursuing criminal networks, and to build a world-class treatment system to turn people’s lives around and stop the cycle of crime.”