Alert as deadly opiate nitazene is found in fake sedative tablets

It said its Emerging Trends Laboratory at the HSE National Drug Treatment Centre has confirmed nitazene in yellow, round counterfeit benzodiazepine tablets linked to the overdoses.

The threat posed by deadly synthetic opiate nitazene has spread across the country and expanded beyond powder sold as heroin to fake sedative tablets.

The HSE has issued a fresh alert overnight regarding the highly potent nitazenes – which were responsible for 77 overdoses in Dublin and Cork late last year – after a new “cluster of overdoses” were recorded in the Mid-West and Galway, as well as Dublin.