Overview

• A University of South Australia analysis of 300 syringe samples in Adelaide found nitazenes in 5 percent, mostly mixed with heroin and sometimes combined with xylazine
• Nitazenes are up to 250 times stronger than heroin and five times stronger than fentanyl, making even trace amounts potentially lethal and often undetectable in standard toxicology screens
• UK government figures link over 400 nitazene-involved deaths between June 2023 and January 2025, and Public Health Scotland reports a 15 percent rise in suspected drug-related fatalities this spring with nitazenes in 6 percent of cases
• U.S. authorities have identified nitazenes in at least 4,300 drug seizures since 2019, raising alarms that international criminal networks may be replicating early fentanyl supply chains
• Health agencies are expanding wastewater monitoring, syringe testing and rapid alert systems to close detection gaps and warn users of hidden synthetic opioids