(WXYZ) — The Drug Enforcement Agency in metro Detroit is putting out an alert about the dangerous synthetic drug fentanyl, which is 50 times stronger than heroin.
It's now being mixed with xylazine, which is an animal tranquilizer. It's so powerful that just .10 ml can fully knock out a 1,000-pound cow.
Officials are saying xylazine is making the deadly drug even deadlier. The DEA has seized fentanyl mixed with xylazine in 48 out of 50 states, including in Michigan.
Xylazine is not an opioid and it's not a controlled substance. The scary part about this drug is that if a person overdoses on xylazine, Narcan will not revere the effects of the drug.
"What we're seeing is that xylazine is the latest adulterant that we're seeing being introduced into fentanyl," Orville Greene, the Detroit DEA Special Agent in Charge, said.
Xylazine is known as tranq on the streets. When injecting fentanyl laced with xylazine, the DEA said users can develop severe wounds, including loss of limbs and decaying flesh. It can even fully sedate a. person and lead to death.
" The majority of the fentanyl that we seize in the United States is coming from Mexico. Specifically from the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel," Greene said.
The I-75 corridor and I-94 corridor are major routes that these deadly drugs travel in Michigan. Last week, law enforcement in Oakland County took 20 kilograms of the deadly drug off the streets. That's enough fentanyl to wipe out Michigan's entire population.
"They have folks all over the United States and in cities that are considered hubs. Where a large amount of drugs are shipped and reshipped," Greene said.
Roderick Oden knows personally what it feels like to lose someone close to the deadly drug.
"I just went to the funeral the day before yesterday," he said. "It's horrible. It's horrible. It's killing a lot of people."
When the fentanyl gets to these main hubs and is repackaged, that's where the middleman cuts it with xylazine.
"It's a non-opiate that has the opiate-like effects, however, it also doesn't respond to Narcan," Greene said.
In 2022, approximately 23% of fentanyl powder and 7% of fentanyl pills seized by the DEA contained xylazine.
"Just don't do it. It's not worth your life you have too much to live for, So much you can do with your life so why would you want to waste it over something stupid like that."
First responders have their work cut out for them. Health professionals say multiple rounds of Narcan could restore breathing but people may not wake up or be responsive after Narcan is given
