Drug dealers 'testing' heroin market with dangerous synthetics

Laboratory tests were able to show nitazenes resulted in 77 overdoses in Dublin and Cork last year.

Health experts believe drug dealers were “testing the market” when they supplied a batch of a highly dangerous synthetic opioid drug into the Dublin and Cork heroin scene, the country’s top addiction expert has said.

Dr Eamon Keenan, HSE clinical lead on addiction, said laboratory tests were able to show the nitazenes which resulted in 77 overdoses in the two cities last November and December were from the “same batch”.

He said the threat posed by these synthetic substitutes for heroin was ongoing and that there was a “significant seizure” of a second nitazene drug in Dublin late last month.

Garda sources said the amount seized, understood to be 2kgs of protonitazene, was “big” and that charges were forthcoming.

Dr Keenan said this seizure led the HSE to issue a second red alert to users and services in Dublin and Cork in early February.

Overdoses

Addressing a webinar for health professionals, Dr Keenan said protonitazene can be 100 times more powerful than heroin and that some nitazenes are estimated to be 500 times more powerful.

He said that within 24 hours in Dublin, starting on November 9, there were 34 overdoses linked with nitazenes, compared to three or four on a normal day.

A total of 57 overdoses in total were documents in Dublin, with a further 20 in Cork in December.

“The laboratory was able to tell us that this was actually the same batch that had been used in Dublin and seem to have been transported down,” Dr Keenan said.

“So, to our minds, it was like the drugs dealers were sort of testing the market by introducing these synthetic opioids.” 

He said it was an ongoing issue and that the HSE set up a National Red Alert Group, which included representatives from the Gardaí, National Ambulance Service, laboratories and hospital EDs.

“To highlight how this is an ongoing issue, in January 2024, there was a significant police seizure of protonitazene in Dublin,” Dr Keenan said. “So this was the second nitazene in Ireland and we were able to issue an additional drug warning, on February 2.” 

Opium production

He launched a new fact sheet for medical care providers at the webinar regarding nitazene and to signpost them to resources.

He said this emergence of nitazenes was against the background of the collapse in opium production in Afghanistan, where 80% of the world’s heroin comes from.

Recent UN estimates said opium production fell by 95% in 2023, following on from a national ban on its growth by the Taliban regime in 2022.

“It is going to have an impact on the heroin market,” Dr Keenan said. “We may not see it straight away, but it will become apparent in time.” 

He said the heroin antidote naloxone was effective for nitazenes as well, though it might require two doses of it.

He said the HSE was increasing provision of naloxone, distributing over 6,500 of it in 2023 and training 2,000 people.

He said they were currently working with gardaí in relation to training and pilot carrying of naloxone.

Dr Keenan said it was advisable to scale up treatment services and overdose responses and that this would “require investment” in both people and equipment.

He said engagement with all the relevant people was essential in preparing and planning for any possible increase in nitazene availability and harm.