The deaths of three men in Birmingham have been linked to a new synthetic drug bought on the ‘dark web’.
Three young victims - two students and an entrepreneur - aged between 19 and 27 all died within the space of three months.
They had all taken N-pyrrolidino etonitazene, a synthetic opioid 1,000 times stronger than morphine, the BBC reported.
Dr Judith Yates, who collates drug deaths in the city, said she had been “shocked” after seeing the opioid’s effects.
“These three cases have come out of the blue, we’ve never seen this chemical before,” she added.
Dr Yates said the drug appeared to be a replacement for fentanyl and was bought over the dark web.
“There is no way to tell what’s in a tablet that you’re getting either online or on the street,” she said.
The three victims were students Dylan Michael Byfield-Levell, 20, and Jakob Wozniak, 19, and entrepreneur Miles Elliott Davis, 27.
Dylan, from Sutton Coldfield, had an underlying heart condition and was found collapsed at home in October after a night out.
Miles died days later, while Jakob died in January after being found collapsed.
His inquest confirmed N-pyrrolidino etonitazene was a primary cause of death.
The synthetic drug was first identified in May 2021 but the compounds found in the drug were originally developed in the 1950s and 60s.
Larger quantities of the antidote naloxone are needed to treat it because of its potency.
N-pyrrolidino etonitazene is a synthetic opioid which was first identified in May 2021.
Compounds found in the drug were originally developed in the 1950s and 60s.
An 18-year-old man believed to be the first person in the UK to take the drug was found unresponsive and breathing heavily in July 2021.
He was found by his mother who started CPR and he was later treated at the University Hospitals Birmingham Trust.
Doctors said he was lucky to survive after paramedics found him with no pulse. But he was saved by an injection and put on a ventilator.
