Gardaí fear drug traffickers will set up labs in Ireland to manufacture synthetic opioids

Synthetic opioid fentanyl has already caused hundreds of thousands of deaths in North America. File picture: iStock

Gardaí have raised concerns drug traffickers could set up their own laboratories in Ireland to manufacture synthetic opioids given the dramatic changes in the drug market.

Sources point out that Ireland has already seen the emergence of new substances, including nitazene, a super-strong synthetic opioid, in the last year — with mass outbreaks across country — and, earlier this month, synthetic benzodiazepines in Portlaoise Prison.