Warning issued after two suspected opioid deaths
Warnings have been issued by a west London council and nightclubs after two people died in suspected drug overdoses from highly potent synthetic opioids.
An investigation is under way into the "sudden deaths" of a 28-year-old man and a 20-year-old woman in Southall on 26 May, the Metropolitan Police said.
"This is following reports that the individuals allegedly passed away after taking an illicit substance in the form of a green pill," a spokesperson for the force added.
Drug testing charity The Loop has said the pills contain synthetic opioids called Nitazenes, which can be "50 to 500 times stronger than heroin".
Ealing Council said the two people who died are understood to have taken green pills with the number 80 on one face and possibly an "OP" on the other.
The police said no arrests have been made in connection with the deaths.
If you have been affected by issues raised in this story, help and support is available via BBC Action Line.
East London nightclub The Cause posted about the pills on their Instagram account, stating there had been "several hospitalisations across multiple London venues".
BBC News has contacted the London Ambulance Service (LAS) to verify this.
The Loop said the pills are believed to have been sold as oxycodone. According to the NHS this is a prescription painkiller used to treat severe pain.
Nitazenes are a type of high strength synthetic opioid - drugs which have a similar effect to heroin, but made in laboratories rather than from poppy seeds.
Originally developed by the pharmaceutical industry in the 1950s as a painkiller, clinical trials were abandoned amid concerns about their harmful effects.
These compounds are dangerous because they can be 50 to 100 times stronger than heroin, so drug users have no idea of the potency of what they are taking.
The drugs suppress the respiratory system, so people can die as they stop breathing but the symptoms of an overdose can be reversed by taking an antidote called naloxone.
'Synthetic opioid was a death sentence for our dad'
Deadly new drugs found in fake medicines in the UK
Drug dealers offer BBC team deadly opioids
The most recent government data found there were 18 deaths linked to nitazenes in London from May 2023 to June 2024. The figure was 179 across England.
The Department for Health and Social Care stated the data "does not provide a comprehensive count of all deaths that may have involved potent synthetic opioids".
An Ealing Council spokesperson urged people to avoid taking the green pills "even in small amounts".
Anyone considering taking any other illicit pills should not do so alone, the council said, and should consider carrying naloxone - an opioid overdose antidote.
If anyone feels unwell after taking a substance, they are advised to seek emergency medical attention, the spokesperson added.
The Loop has also advised where such services are available to test drugs before they are taken.
Listen to the best of BBC Radio London on Sounds and follow BBC London on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to hello.bbclondon@bbc.co.uk
The Loop
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Hatton Garden stabbing sees man, 24, rushed to hospital
A 24-year-old man has been rushed to hospital after being stabbed on a Central London street famous for its jewellers. Police await an update on this condition following the attack which took place yesterday (Wednesday, June 4). The man was taken to hospital after being stabbed on the famous jewellery street after police were called there at around 3.40pm yesterday. He remains in hospital. Police say that no arrests have yet been made. Hatton Garden was closed yesterday while police investigated the incident. READ MORE: 'Very vulnerable' woman's disappearance not reported for 20 days as mum issues plea READ MORE: Café inside London Tube station gets worst possible food hygiene rating after discovery in fridge Stabbing, Hatton Garden — Martin Ricketts(@martin1ricketts) June 4, 2025 Members of the public with information on the stabbing are asked to contact the Metropolitan Police Service. A spokesperson for the force said: 'On Wednesday, 4 June at 15:39hrs police were called to Hatton Gardens, EC1 following reports of an altercation. 'Officers attended the scene alongside the London Ambulance Service, who treated a 24-year-old man for stab injuries. He has been taken to hospital and we await an update on his condition. 'Road closures are in place while police investigate. No arrests have been made at this early stage. Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the police on 101 quoting CAD 5119/4JUN. 'Alternatively, you can contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or visit Got a story? Please get in touch at Looking for more from MyLondon? Subscribe to our daily newsletters here for the latest and greatest updates from across London.
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Yahoo
Madeleine McCann Portugal search to enter third day
Searches for Madeleine McCann are due to resume on Thursday morning near to where she disappeared from Praia da Luz, Portugal. German and Portuguese investigators have until Friday to look for evidence relating to the disappearance of the British toddler 18 years ago. Officers are scouring a 21 sq km (8.1 sq miles) site between where she went missing and where the German investigators' prime suspect, Christian Brückner, had been staying at the time. The 48-year-old is serving a prison sentence in Germany for an unrelated rape case, however he could be released as early as September. Madeleine McCann search goes on but is it 18 years too late? Three-year-old Madeleine McCann vanished from an apartment in the Algarve while on holiday with her family in May 2007. Her disappearance is one of the highest-profile missing person cases in the world. Madeleine's case was initially handled by the Portuguese authorities with the aid of the Metropolitan Police. However German police took the lead in 2020 when they identified Brückner as a suspect. He is known to have spent time in the same part of Portugal between 2000 and 2017. German police suspect him of murder. British police continue to treat the case as a missing persons investigation. Brückner has repeatedly denied any involvement and no charges have been brought against him relating to Madeleine's disappearance. A European warrant has been approved by Portuguese prosecutors to allow German teams to conduct the latest searches on private land. Diggers and specialist equipment were brought in to help scour scrubland and abandoned buildings on Wednesday. Searches were last carried near the Barragem do Arade reservoir in 2023 as Brückner had photographs and videos of himself in the area. On the night Madeleine disappeared, her parents had been at dinner with friends at a restaurant a short walk away while their three-year-old daughter and her younger twin siblings were asleep in the ground-floor apartment. Last month, Kate and Gerry McCann marked the 18th year anniversary of her disappearance, saying their "determination to leave no stone unturned is unwavering". However they would not comment during the "active police investigation", staff at the Find Madeleine Campaign said. Watch: Searching derelict and desolate area in Madeleine McCann case Madeleine McCann suspect release date pushed back Madeleine McCann disappearance: A timeline
Yahoo
19 hours ago
- Yahoo
School deputy safeguard did not expect girl, 15, to be strip searched by police
The staff member whose telephone call led to a 15-year-old girl being stripped searched by police at school while on her period said she did not ask for the intimate search. The deputy safeguarding manager said she was 'highly suspicious' that the black schoolgirl known only as Child Q, had cannabis on her but she called on the advice of the designated police safer schools officer (SSO) and 'absolutely' did not ask for a strip search. The woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was giving evidence at the London misconduct hearing for Metropolitan Police officers trainee Detective Constable Kristina Linge and Police Constables Victoria Wray and Rafal Szmydynski. All three officers were Pcs at the time of the search which allegedly took place without an appropriate adult present in Hackney, east London on December 3 2020. The safeguarding deputy told the hearing she was 'really shocked' when she later heard that the girl had been strip searched. Child Q was wrongly accused of carrying cannabis. Nothing was found. She had arrived at school for a mock exam, smelling of cannabis and was taken to the medical room to be strip searched while teachers remained outside. The police search involved the removal of Child Q's clothing including her underwear, her bending over and having to expose intimate parts of her body. Nothing was found when teachers searched Child Q's jacket, pockets, bag and shoes before police were called, the tribunal heard. Under questioning from Luke Ponte, for Linge, the safeguarding deputy accepted that she believed 'Child Q was stoned' and was 'very clearly out of it'. The safeguarding deputy spoke to the headteacher and called the SSO, who is a police officer that liaises with schools, for advice. She then called the force, telling the hearing: 'I believed that she had weed on her because I could smell it so strongly.' She thought Child Q could possibly have stuffed it down her shirt or hidden it in her bra but she told the panel she was not asking for a strip search. This was now a safeguarding issue and there were concerns for Child Q, who could potentially have been carrying drugs for someone else, being exploited or groomed and there was also the other students to look after, the tribunal was told. After speaking to the SSO, the safeguarding deputy thought that it was 'protocol' that a second female police officer was called to the school. The panel has heard that this 'most intrusive' form of search of a child should only be used where 'necessary and reasonable', must have authorisation from a sergeant, and involve an appropriate adult. It must also be recorded and two same sex officers are required if intimate parts will be exposed. Mr Ponte suggested the safeguarding deputy was 'adamant' that Child Q had illegal drugs on her when she contacted the police. The safeguarding deputy said: 'Adamant is the wrong word. Adamant comes across that I am 100% (certain). I am highly suspicious. I am of an opinion and have given it to the headteacher.' The safeguarding deputy said that in her call to the SSO there was 'no mention of any strip search' and she was advised to call the force on 101. She also doubted parts of the transcript of her 101 call to police, that was read at the tribunal, in which she was said to have called for a more thorough search. In the call the safeguarding deputy is said to have told the operator that 'it's evident that it (drugs) is on her' as she described her suspicions about Child Q carrying drugs. But the safeguarding deputy told the hearing: 'I cannot imagine saying that.' She also said she was not acting as an appropriate adult when she was outside medical room while the officers were alone with Child Q. She knew Child Q had been searched because the officers had said they found nothing but assumed it may have been a pat down. The context of making the call to the police was not a 'sinister and desperate attempt to get this student searched' which is the way she felt it was being presented to her at the tribunal. She said she did not remember telling the operator that she wanted a more thorough search. Mr Ponte told her: 'It is only the officers' decision making that matters in this hearing. I suggest to you that you wanted a strip search to happen that day.' The safeguarding deputy replied: 'Absolutely not.' Mr Ponte told her: 'You asked for a strip search to happen that day… You were aware a strip search was happening.' The deputy safeguarding said 'no' to both statements. She also denied Mr Ponte's suggestion she was 'not being entirely honest in your accounts and have tried to distance yourself from events that happened that day'. Pcs Linge and Szmydynski performed a search that exposed the girl's intimate parts when this was 'disproportionate in all the circumstances', according to the allegations. Pcs Linge and Wray also performed or allowed the search in a manner which was 'unjustified, inappropriate, disproportionate, humiliating and degrading'. All of this happened without authorisation, in the absence of an appropriate adult, and with no adequate concern being given to Child Q's age, sex, or the need to treat her as a child, it is also alleged. It is also claimed that Pcs Szmydynski and Linge both gave a misleading record of the search afterwards. No contemporaneous record was made about the search, either in the officers' pocket notebooks or on a standard form – as would be routine for any stop and search in the street.
