Fentanyl, an anesthetic 50 times more addictive than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine, was seized from dealers for the first time in Brazil. The drug has been on the searchlight of authorities across the globe due to its price, potency, addictive potential and due to the fact that it is frequently mixed accidentally or intentionally with other drugs and medicines.
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The Drug that Kills the Most in the US
Mexican drug cartels have been selling the drug to the US for some years. They often buy the chemicals necessary to prepare it from China and then transport to its neighbor, where it is sold. It has quickly become drug that kills the most in the United States. In 2020, nearly 4,000 people died due to fentanyl overdoses in California, according to the California Department of Justice. Just two milligrams can cause overdose or death.
Accidental Consumption and Overdose
Fentanyl is typically available in two main forms: powder and liquid. Fentanyl cannot be smelled or tasted, making it nearly impossible to tell if drugs contain or have been laced with the opioid without special fentanyl test strips. Combining this factor with its potency, it has many times led officers on patrol to accidentally consume it and overdose.
To prevent officers’ death by overdose, police teams have been equipped with Narcan, a life-saving medication that can rapidly reverse the effects of opioid overdose if given in time, according to the CDC.
Espírito Santo
In Brazil, the first case recorded appeared after an arrest made by the Civil Police of Espírito Santo. According to the police, the owner of the drug is a supplier of the dealers who sell to final consumers.
Access to the Drug
The police say that the Fentanyl came from Minas Gerais. It would have been officially produced there and it was going to be delivered to a hospital in Espírito Santo. It was diverted during transport or after arriving at the hospital.
Lacing Other Drugs
Police believe dealers would be using fentanyl to combine with other drugs. It is believed that this batch was discovered because criminals did not have time to mix it.
Our Analysis
People living in tents under terrible conditions in the urban center, many wandering aimlessly in the streets, several episodes of overdose. The scenario described in the previous line is found in many American cities – particularly in San Francisco (CA) – where fentanyl arrived, locations quite similar to the Brazilian cracolândias, where thousands of addicted people gather to buy and consume drugs and end up almost living there. The most famous cracolândia in Brazil appeared in São Paulo, in the capital, and despite around 30 years of public interventions to find a solution for the problem – health social, and security one –, it has not vanished. On the contrary, it shows great resilience. In the past year, São Paulo state government implemented an operation to arrest drug traffickers, move addicted people to special institutions and recover the part of the city central area, approximately two blocks near the famous Sé Station, where it has stablished itself for many decades. However, despite the arrests and apprehensions, the cracolândia simply moved. First, it went to Princesa Isabel Square, then, the police intervened again, and it moved to Santa Ifigênia neighborhood, remaining in parts of several streets: Guaianases, Vitória, Aurora Gusmões, Conselheiros Nébias and Barão de Limeira. In Brazil, these agglomerations of drug traffickers and addicts, which are not exclusive to São Paulo, are essentially driven by the consumption of a very cheap and powerful drug, crack. The arrival of fentanyl, which can be mixed with other drugs, could have a devastating potential, multiplying the number of cracolândias, the number of drug users and creating a bigger health problem, due to its potential to easily lead to overdoses.
