The US is “behind the curve” on fighting a deadly new synthetic narcotic that’s dramatically more lethal than fentanyl and resistant to Narcan, a top DEA agent warns.
Just as authorities in the US and China increase efforts to tackle the scourge of fentanyl, the drug manufacturers, who are motivated by “greed,” shifted to start producing nitazenes — an even deadlier poison, said Drug Enforcement Administration Houston Division Special Agent in Charge Jonathan C. Pullen.
The Trump administration has hit Mexico and China with sanctions and tariffs to force the foreign governments to act against illicit drug producers responsible for the poisonings of thousands of Americans each year.
Additionally, with President Trump’s effort to close the southern border, the feds have seen a significant drop in the flow of illicit fentanyl into the US.
“I do think we are behind the curve. But that’s been the case with these synthetic opioids — that they shift,” he told The Post.
“And if we get into a place where then we are able to issue controls or China issues more controls on the precursor chemicals that go to these, they’ll just change the analog and it’ll go to another precursor chemical. China’s already done that,” he added.
Nitazenes are produced in China, often with the help of Mexican cartels that finish the product and move it north across the border, according to Pullen.
The potent narcotic can be up to 43 times stronger than fentanyl depending on the formula, according to the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission.
Nitazenes are not included in routine drug tests or toxicology screenings, making them all the more challenging to detect.
While the feds are “making headway” to tackle the new threat, there’s still more work to be done, said Pullen.
“So it’s very very difficult to stay ahead of it, so we’ve got to continue to step up our enforcement along the border,” he said.
“I think that the number of overdose deaths being reduced in the United States is a testament to that. The enforcement is not the only reason its reduced. Naloxone [aka Narcan] is a huge piece too, but we’re definitely making some headway and we’re gonna keep pushing on that.”
There were 80,000 overdose deaths in the US in 2024 — a 27% drop from the 110,000 deaths estimated in 2023, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
