Mystery surrounds lethal drug nitazene that’s killing unsuspecting Victorians

A mysterious drug believed to be linked to the deaths of four people in Broadmeadows — and more than a dozen other Victorians — could kill many more, medical experts fear.

Medical experts fear a mysterious lethal drug that has already been linked to the deaths of more than 15 Victorians in just three years could kill dozens more.

Nitazenes are a group of synthetic opioids that are made up of several different types including protonitazene and metonitazene.

The drug, which is 1000 times more potent than morphine, emerged on Australian shores three years ago.

Drug users are mostly unaware they are ingesting nitazene as it is usually laced in other substances including MDMA, ketamine, cocaine and methamphetamine.

Uniting Medically Supervised Injecting Centre’s medical director Dr Marianne Jauncey told the Sunday Herald Sun the enigma surrounding the opioid was distressing.

Synthetic opioid Nitazine emerged in Australia three years ago. Picture: Australian Federal Police

“We don’t know exactly where they are coming from, they are clearly being illicitly manufactured in labs,” she said.

“What is incredibly concerning is that they are being found in so many different substances.

“People are purchasing what they think is just cocaine or what they think is just ketamine or MDMA but it is not. Such a small quantity is such a lethal amount.”

It comes as four people died in a Broadmeadows home last month with police confirming the group had all ingested a synthetic opioid with no traces of fentanyl found.

It remains unclear what exact opioid was taken but Dr Jauncey said she was concerned it was a type of nitazene.

On Tuesday, the Department of Heath issued a public alert about the threat of cocaine that contained protonitazene.

“There have been recent serious harms in Melbourne associated with a white powder sold as cocaine that contained protonitazene,” the warning read.

“The product appears to produce strong adverse effects such as loss of consciousness, respiratory depression, and life-threatening hypoxia.”

The home in Broadmeadows where four people were found dead. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

Meanwhile, a Coroners Court spokesperson said there had been at least 16 Victorian overdose deaths involving nitazenes since the start of 2021.

This included a 38-year-old man who died of mixed drug toxicity in 2022 where the toxicology returned a positive result for metonitazene.

Coroner Ingrid Giles found that at the time of use, the man appeared to have believed “he was injecting heroin and was unaware that he was consuming the dangerous synthetic opioid”.

Dr Jauncey said drug checking services needed to be ramped up.

“I think it’s frightening that we don’t know where to look next,” she said.

“At the moment, we aren’t going to know unless people continue to overdose or die.

“Without things like drug checking, it’s hard to know what’s going on.

“If you’re not looking, you’re not going to find it. We need to be looking more. We need to heighten our surveillance.”

Investigators at the home in Broadmeadows. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

Professor Jennifer Schumann from Monash University’s Department of Forensic Medicine warned that Australia was facing a potential “catastrophe” because health authorities were significantly underprepared to deal with the influx of deaths.

Prof Schumann said Victorian and national health authorities needed to look at the devastation that nitazenes had already caused in other countries such as the United Kingdom, where at least 175 deaths were linked to the opioid in recent months.

“There’s a real risk that there will only really be action when this crisis is already upon us and the bodies start to pile up,” she said.

“Once it hits, it cannot be undone.

“The current planning really is insufficient. We need to be taking this extremely seriously.”

Prof Schumann also called for better access to Naloxone, a drug that can temporarily reverse an opioid overdose.