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Deadly substance: The synthetic opioid fentanyl is often produced in Mexico and smuggled into the USA

Photo: Patrick T. Fallon / AFP

Interpol warns of increasing drug use of the dangerous opioid fentanyl in Europe. “The fact is that fentanyl is already in Europe, is extremely potent and must be treated as an immediate threat,” Interpol Secretary General Jürgen Stock told “Welt am Sonntag”. "Even small amounts of this drug can be deadly for users, but at the same time very profitable for the criminal networks behind its distribution," he warned.

Interpol recently conducted the first global law enforcement survey on fentanyl. Initial findings showed that the drug and similar substances “are distributed or manufactured in all regions of the world, including Europe.” These included illicit and medicinal fentanyl in the form of powder, patches, tablets and liquids.

High addictive potential

Even if the current seizures in Europe are "nowhere near" the quantities in North America, they should "cause concern among law enforcement and health authorities due to the high addictive potential," said Stock.

Fentanyl is a strong painkiller that is used, among other things, by cancer patients, but is also traded illegally. The synthetic opioid is 50 times more potent than heroin. With chemicals manufactured primarily in China, it is often produced in Mexico and smuggled from there to the USA. In the United States, approximately 100,000 people die from a fentanyl overdose every year.

The federal government's drug commissioner, Burkhard Blienert (SPD), told "Welt am Sonntag": "An opioid crisis like in the USA and Canada will not repeat itself here, we fundamentally have different, better conditions." The starting point of the fentanyl The crisis in the USA was an excessive prescription of strong painkillers, but in Germany people were much more cautious.

"Nevertheless, it would also be possible for us that heroin users would increasingly switch to fentanyl, which is cheaper and much more dangerous," said Blienert. More low-threshold offers for consumers are needed. “These include drug checking, rapid tests in drug consumption rooms and also the use of the emergency medication naloxone, which even medical laypeople can administer,” said the drug commissioner.

jpa/AFP