Seizure of fentanyl in Brazil raises alarm for health authorities

In the last decade, the drug began to be added to heroin in California, by the Mexican cartels that control the traffic. Due to little control of the legal sale and inputs for manufacturing, fentanyl has become an epidemic in the United States and the US government has begun to distribute tests for users to find out if they have fentanyl in the drugs, in order to reduce the risks of overdose. .

Unlike crack, a stimulant derived from cocaine, fentanyl is a synthetic opioid, with an anesthetic effect and more devastating than crack. Deaths caused by crack, in general, come from violence or organ failure caused by continuous use. In the case of fentanyl, it causes overdose more easily, a small amount of this pure drug leads to death.

Fentanyl seizure in Brazil raises alarm for health authoritieshttps://t.co/YomJlfKUK7

— Band.com.br (@portaldaband) March 21, 2023

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^{Post about the seizure. (Reproduction/Twitter @portaldaband)}

With the seizure in Espírito Santo, on February 10, the authorities are concerned with the possibility of this drug being mixed with drugs in Brazil, as it happened abroad. According to psychiatrist specialist in alcohol and drugs, Arthur Guerra, it is necessary to avoid the same scenario as in the United States.

As the site cited, even with the concern, specialists point out that Brazil is one of the most rigorous countries in the world regarding the control of the sale of controlled drugs and that the production of fentanyl is more complex, which can reduce the risk of the drug if popularize in the country.

According to researcher Clarice Madruga: “The seriously dependent person will always decide which substance he can have in greater quantity with the money he has available. That’s why crack continues to be our big problem, crack rock is extremely cheap”.

As for the apprehension made at a residence in Cariacica (ES) about 30 kilometers from Vitória, according to the website “DL News”in the same place where 31 ampoules of the anesthetic, whose technical name is “fentanyl citrate”, were found, the police also seized 136 kg of marijuana, 2,500 pins of cocaine and thousands of empty pins.

According to the Civil Police, the residence did not belong to a drug dealer, but to a known drug supplier in the state with no connection to factions, whose name is preserved so as not to interfere with investigations.

The presence of the drug in Espírito Santo caused the DEA (Department of Narcotics) of the US police to send two agents to investigate the case with the local authorities. According to the delegate of Denarc-ES (Specialized Drug Trafficking Department of ES), Tarcísio Otoni, it was due to a course given by the US agency in El Salvador, in 2022, that the agents from Espírito Santo were able to identify such substance.

Fentanyl seized in ES generates alert in US authorities. https://t.co/Z5FMEHjxS2

— CBN Vitoria (@cbnvitoria) March 22, 2023

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^{Post about the seizure. (Reproduction/Twitter @cbnvitoria)}

According to “DL News”, one of the concerns of US agents is the fact that Espírito Santo is a port state, a potential entry or exit port for narcotics abroad.

The Civil Police identified that the ampoules seized in Cariacica originated from a pharmaceutical industry in Minas Gerais. The investigation still does not know whether there was embezzlement or whether the substance was resold illegally by someone from within a health institution.

After the seizure, the Society of Anesthesiology of Espírito Santo reported that it is studying ways to strengthen control over the substance, with satellite monitoring of anesthetic batches and the mandatory return of ampoules after use by health professionals.

Featured Photo: With the technical name of “fentanyl citrate”, fentanyl worries health authorities. Playback/Hailshadow.