Police in Northern Ireland have seized heroin laced with the potentially lethal drug fentanyl.
Fentanyl is a synthetic opiate 100 times stronger than heroin and is typically administered in hospitals to treat patients suffering from severe chronic pain or recovering from surgery.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
It made headlines last year after it was revealed musician Prince died from an accidental fentanyl overdose and has been widely blamed for the escalating opioid crisis in the US.
Stan Brown, chief executive of Forensic Science Northern Ireland, said he was alarmed that fentanyl had been found in the seized narcotics.
“Just a tiny quantity can kill and the user has no way of knowing that it is actually in drug they are taking,” he said.
Fentanyl and its many analogues, which include the elephant tranquiliser carfentanil, slow down the respiratory system and can make a user lose consciousness or stop breathing, especially when combined with other drugs or alcohol.
Coming into any contact with the drugs, including powder touching a person’s skin or being accidentally inhaled, “could potentially cause serious harm”, says the Belfast Telegraph.
-
5 drawn-out cartoons about the ongoing government shutdownCartoon Artists take on government employee cosplay, which side blinks first, and more
-
Political cartoons for November 1Cartoons Saturday's political cartoons include insurance premiums, early voting in NYC, and more
-
Salted caramel and chocolate tart recipeThe Week Recommends Delicious dessert can be made with any biscuits you fancy
-
Mexico’s forced disappearancesUnder the Radar 130,000 people missing as 20-year war on drugs leaves ‘the country’s landscape ever more blood-soaked’
-
Illicit mercury is poisoning the AmazonUnder the Radar 'Essential' to illegal gold mining, toxic mercury is being trafficked across Latin America, 'fuelling violence' and 'environmental devastation'
-
The Miami Showband massacre, 50 years onThe Explainer Unanswered questions remain over Troubles terror attack that killed three members of one of Ireland's most popular music acts
-
Thailand is rolling back on its legal cannabis empireUnder the Radar Government restricts cannabis use to medical purposes only and threatens to re-criminalise altogether, sparking fears for the $1 billion industry
-
Narco subs are helping to fuel a global cocaine surgeThe Explainer Drug smugglers are increasingly relying on underwater travel to hide from law enforcement
-
Mexico extradites 29 cartel figures amid US tariff threatSpeed Read The extradited suspects include Rafael Caro Quintero, long sought after killing a US narcotics agent
-
'Virtual prisons': how tech could let offenders serve time at homeUnder The Radar New technology offers opportunities to address the jails crisis but does it 'miss the point'?
-
Inside Marseille's deadly drug warsThe Explainer Teenage hitmen recruited through social media are lured by money and gang 'brand'
