DEA Houston warns of synthetic opioid hitting Houston and surrounding areas

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6 days ago

The Brief
DEA Houston warns of the synthetic opioid Nitazene, saying it's 25% more potent than fentanyl.
DEA Houston says they have seen a major increase in overdoses and seizures in the last year.
A mother who lost her son to fentanyl is advocating for change and shares her message for families.
HOUSTON - The Houston field office for the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) is putting out a serious and stern warning about a synthetic drug called Nitazene that's leading to seizures and overdoses in teens and adults.
What they're saying
The DEA says Harris, Fort Bend, Montgomery and Brazoria County have all been impacted by Nitazene, which is 25% more potent than fentanyl.
Special Agent William Kimbell with the DEA says Nitazene, a killer synthetic drug, has been in our area since 2022.
"In the last year, we've become more and more concerned because our number of seizures have gone up in between November and February of this year. We have had a 15% increase of overdoses from Nitazene in Houston," said Special Agent Kimbell. "Nitazene is a typical opioid. It suppresses your breathing, it suppresses your blood pressure, and your body is so suppressed, you can't breathe anymore."
Special Agent Kimbell says the drug is impacting people in a wide age range.
"We've seen overdoses now from the ages of 17 to 59, so really. If you are buying a pill from someone you don't know, or you are using a pill that you don't know where it came from, it could have Ntazene in it and it's extremely dangerous," said Special Agent Kimbell, "Its synthetic route is very hard to make, and you need lab experience, but we are seeing Nitazene that are made in China, and they are purchased online and smuggled into the US in parcels, and locally, we are seeing drug gangs take fentanyl and Nitazene and pressing it into a what looks like a prescription drug."
Why you should care
Special Agent Kimbell says Nitazene can be purchased online, using a smartphone.
He says, sadly, that's how many kids are getting their hands on it.
"We are seeing kids carry that – they can reach a drug dealer that is carrying this type of drug instantly," he said. "Within minutes you can tuck your kids in bed, and they can get on social media, and they can have that stuff delivered to their house."
Local perspective
Stephanie Roe, who lost her son Tucker at 19 to fentanyl in 2021, has a warning to families and raising awareness through Texas Against Fentanyl.
"I watched this come into his life and be introduced as an adolescent, and he couldn't beat it. Ultimately, he used again after his treatment and that resulted in his death," said Roe," Nitazene are incredibly lethal. They have been found to be 20 times stronger than Fentanyl.
Roe says it's important for families to talk to their kids and learn more about drug addiction, adding there is a real stigma that needs to be talked about.
"The drug demographic is unlike anything we have seen before and these are highly addictive chemicals," Roe said," "You don't think it will happen to our child if you asked me if I would be someone who would lose a child" I would say no way, but the reality is there is no demographic here, its impacting so many people because there is a lack of education and awareness."
The Source
FOX 26 reporter Leslie DelasBour spoke with Special Agent William Kimbell of the Houston Drug Enforcement Agency and Stephanie Roe, who lost her son to a fentanyl overdose.