Authorities are intercepting an increasing number of shipments of a synthetic drug that is potentially deadlier than fentanyl, sparking concerns among Australian medical professionals that it could trigger a wave of overdoses.
Australian Border Force officers detected nitazene, a potent lab-manufactured opioid, in 22 packages shipped into the country by cargo mail from the UK last October. Officers had previously detected the drug on only two other occasions.
Metonitazene intercepted by law enforcement officers in a parcel bound for the Northern Territory.Credit: AFP
Nitezines have been connected to the deaths of more than 100 people in the UK since June last year, according to its National Crime Agency. The British government has banned the narcotic and introduced tougher prison sentences for those caught supplying it.
In April, the opioid was linked to a cluster of about 20 severe overdoses in Penrith in western Sydney, prompting NSW health authorities to issue a warning about the dangers of synthetic opioids.
“Nitazenes are potent synthetic opioids which can be stronger than fentanyl and hundreds of times more potent than heroin. They are more likely to decrease or stop breathing than other opioids,” the warning read.
Border Force acting commander Asha Patwardhan said the increase in border detections was a source of concern for law enforcement. “Nitazenes are incredibly dangerous,” Patwardhan said. “The [Australian Border Force] will stop at nothing to prevent such illegal imports from making it to Australia.”
Patwardhan’s concerns were echoed by medical professionals, who fear Australia is unprepared to deal with a potential wave of overdoses stemming from the consumption of nitazenes – similar to what happened in the United States and Canada after the introduction of fentanyl.
GP and addiction medicine specialist Dr Paul MacCartney, who works at community health organisation cohealth, said he had received reports of people ordering nitazenes online and having them mailed to their homes in the past year.
“That’s terrifying because these tend to be very potent medications,” MacCartney said.
Nitazenes can come in forms including powders, tablets, nasal sprays and vape liquids. They can also be mixed with other drugs and sold as cocaine, heroin, MDMA and counterfeit medications such as benzodiazepines or sleeping tablets, which means non-regular opioid users are also at risk of overdosing.
AFP forensic officers at a property in western Sydney at the centre of a nitazene importation.
“We’re seeing that in America with fentanyl that people are consuming cocaine and finding that it’s polluted with fentanyl,” said the Penington Institute’s chief executive, John Ryan, whose organisation specialises in public health research and drug policy.
“The biggest risk in Australia is people who are already opioid dependent, buying what they think is an opioid, such as heroin, but actually getting it laced with nitazenes.”
The surge in synthetic opioids is believed to be a result of drug traffickers seeking to capitalise on a gap in the black market created by the Taliban’s crackdown on heroin and opium production since seizing power in Afghanistan in 2021.
“The easiest way to supply the vacuum is with substances that you don’t have to grow and you can make in a factory, so now we’re in the era of what we’re calling HPSOs or high-potency synthetic opioids,” MacCartney said.
There are about 25 different types of nitazenes that can be manufactured using readily available chemicals. They are not dependent on environmental factors and can be manufactured on home soil, removing the need for complicated transport logistics.
Australian Federal Police Commander Paula Hudson said authorities anticipated a surge in shipments of the drug into Australia.
A western Sydney man was charged in August with a string of drug offences after he allegedly attempted to import drugs form the UK – concealed in items including cookware, toy cars and a blackjack set – to sell online, including 97 tablets of an analogue of nitazene.
Two months later, police charged a Northern Territory man with attempting to import a border-controlled drug after they intercepted a parcel with five grams of metonitazene, a type of nitazene, hidden in a vacuum-sealed package.
“Nitazenes were never approved for any therapeutic purpose due to their adverse effects and high risk of overdose due to potencies similar or greater than fentanyl,” Hudson said. “If you choose to take this drug, the risk you are taking is your own life.”
But authorities intercept only a fraction of contraband that is shipped to Australia. In May last year, Border Force Commissioner Michael Outram told a Senate estimates hearing that his organisation detected just a quarter of illicit drug importations.
Medical experts including MacCartney and Ryan say it is crucial that Australia prepares for a potential surge in overdoses by improving treatment options, offering supervised injecting spaces, rolling out pill testing and ensuring the life-saving drug, naloxone, is readily available.
Naloxone is used to reverse an opioid overdose. The drug is available over the counter for free but MacCartney said only about 60 per cent of pharmacies in Australia stock it.
“We know how to treat heroin or opioid dependence. We know how to treat that very effectively, and it’s through medication-assisted treatment or opioid substitution treatment,” Ryan said.
“We’ve got to get away from this idea that we can arrest our way out of this problem and shift to start managing the demand for drugs and that’s about improving access to treatment.”
National Alcohol and Other Drug hotline: 1800 250 015. Lifeline: 13 11 14.
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