Mexican cartels innovate with dangerous fentanyl mixtures, including animal sedatives, to maintain potency
Mexican drug cartels have turned to increasingly dangerous and experimental methods to produce fentanyl, as the global crackdown on the opioid trade tightens. With restrictions on raw fentanyl ingredients from China, cartels have started mixing fentanyl with various substances, including animal sedatives such as xylazine, an animal tranquillizer known on the street as “Tranq.” These new concoctions, which are tested on both animals and human subjects, have resulted in deadly outcomes, including fatalities among street users.
In one case, cartel operatives in north-western Mexico offered individuals up to $30 to inject themselves with an experimental fentanyl formula. While some survived, others died from the potent concoctions. Cartel cooks report that they often use xylazine to enhance the effects of fentanyl, believing that a quicker, more intense death indicates a potent mixture. However, this experimentation has led to serious risks, including contamination and a rise in deadly batches that flood the US streets.
The cartels, which often recruit university chemistry students, continue to develop and test new mixtures in rudimentary labs, further complicating efforts to control the fentanyl epidemic. The cartel’s decentralized structure has meant that quality control varies, with some aiming for less lethal products and others using extreme potency as a selling point. This chaotic, unregulated production process has left the streets flooded with deadly drugs, worsening the ongoing overdose crisis in the US.
Experts report a rising trend of fentanyl being mixed with animal sedatives, which has contributed to more severe and unpredictable drug reactions in users. Researchers are calling this trend a “Wild West of experimentation,” warning that the unpredictable and often lethal nature of these mixtures continues to escalate the danger posed by fentanyl in North America.
