Health authorities warn deadly new opioid nitazene increasingly found in SA
Health authorities are warning that a dangerous synthetic opioid is increasingly being found in South Australia.
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Fresh warnings have been issued over a deadly new opioid on the rise in South Australia.
Police and border authorities this month raised the alarm over smugglers increasingly trying to bring nitazene into the country, voicing concerns the drugs could be “hitting Australian streets”.
But the synthetic opioid, which can be up to 50 times stronger than fentanyl, has already been in South Australia for months - and health authorities say it’s being found “with increasing frequency”.
The drug was first detected in South Australia last July after two people were hospitalised following exposure to the synthetic opioid.
SA Health reported the first death linked to the lethal drug later that month after another overdose.
“These drugs are extremely potent and can produce life-threatening opioid toxicity in very small amounts,” SA Health said.
“These drugs are available in a number of different forms. They are occasionally used deliberately, but often appear along with - or mixed with - other drugs.”
The department warned that users may not even be aware that these drugs are present in the substances they are consuming.
It said nitazenes have been found in tablets and powders that have been sold as non-opiate drugs to people who had not intended to use opiates.
“This significantly increases the risk of overdose,” SA Health said.
Two people in possession of the drug have also been arrested in South Australia, including a 45-year-old Klemzig man this month, who police said was in possession of protonitazene and had been trafficking other illicit drugs.
It comes after a 25 year old Adelaide Hills man was arrested last year for offences including dark web drug trafficking, with nitazenes allegedly being among the drugs offered for sale.
Detective Chief Inspector David Huddy, from the Serious and Organised Crime Branch, said nitazenes have been sold on dark web marketplaces and trafficking through the postal system has been the most commonly encountered method by SAPOL.
“SAPOL takes the trafficking of illicit drugs seriously and actively targets those suspected of being involved in the criminal enterprise,” he said.
“SAPOL works closely with its law enforcement partners to investigate drug trafficking in all its forms.”
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