Zombie drug horror: Home Office warns Britain is staring down the barrel of a US-style synthetic opioid crisis

The Home Office has warned Britain is under threat from deadly super-strength opioids flooding into the UK.

Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, Policing Minister Dame Diana Johnson said synthetic drugs were an ‘evolving threat’ as she announced new guidance to help fight the surge of dangerous opioids. 

Brits taking illicit painkillers and sedatives are increasingly at risk of dying because pills laced with synthetic opioids called nitazenes are ‘becoming increasingly present,’ the Home Office said.

Just last month, MailOnline revealed that former government advisers and drug experts were worried Britain could face an opioid crisis similar to the one America is experiencing because of fentanyl.

Yet while fentanyl is 50 times more potent than heroin, nitazenes can reach up to 2,000 times heroin’s potency. 

The Government told MailOnline it was taking action to curb the rising synthetic opioid drug threat and make streets safer.

Its guidance includes recommendations that teams fighting to prevent opiate deaths carry the opioid overdose antidote naloxone, fast track forensic testing to confirm if synthetic opioids are present and ensure they have sufficient out of hours capability.

Dame Diana added: ‘Synthetic drugs have no place on Britain’s streets, which is why we must do everything we can to tackle this evolving threat.

‘This advice will help save lives by ensuring local authorities know how to respond to incidents more quickly and efficiently, as will the vital roll-out of naloxone across our police forces.’

‘Already there are hundreds of examples of police officers carrying this life-saving medicine. 

‘I am deeply grateful for their unwavering commitment to protect some of the most vulnerable people in our communities, part of the government’s Plan for Change to keep streets safe.’

Nitazenes were first created in the 1950s as opioid painkillers but were never approved for medical use. For 70 years, their existence was forgotten.

Then, after Britain and America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan – and the Taliban‘s subsequent narcotics ban – they re-emerged as a way to strengthen low-purity heroin in case opium supplies dwindled.

Yet while heroin users are still vulnerable, another fear for the government is young people buying illicit versions of traditionally legal drugs such as Valium and Xanax as coping mechanisms.

MailOnline analysis of data from the UK’s only drug testing facility Wedinos revealed that two-thirds of samples that contained nitazenes were supposed to be medications that could be purchased legally, and two-thirds of those were supposed to be Valium (diazepam). 

So far, the number of nitazene-related deaths is only at 458 in the last two years. However, there was a 166 per cent increase from 2023 (125 deaths) to 2024 (333 deaths) – more than double in a single year, and even that total is expected to rise once toxicology and forensic testing improves and is finalised.

Home Office officials hope that its push for more police officers to carry naloxone will stem these deaths. 

Footage of the antidote in action in March this year was shared with MailOnline by the Home Office.

The video shows two concerned police officers attending to a man appearing to be overdosing on a street in South Yorkshire.

After one of the officers administers a nasal naloxone spray, the man regains consciousness and sits up.

One of the officers is heard saying it took five minutes for the antidote to work. He added: ‘It’s amazing.’

According to government data, there are currently around 20,650 police officers and 880 police staff carrying naloxone on a daily basis in the UK.

The same research found that the life-saving antidote has been administered more than 1,200 times since June 2019.

Thirty-two police forces are currently using the naloxone provision or piloting it, and another 12 forces have committed to either pilot or roll out its use in the near future.

The Home Office listed just two forces – Greater Manchester Police and Suffolk Constabulary – as not carrying it and having no plans to do so.

Chief Constable Richard Lewis, the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for drugs, told MailOnline: ‘Synthetic drug use, like all illegal drug use, is incredibly dangerous, carrying high risks of overdosing.

‘We welcome the government’s recommendations in how we collectively respond to this particular threat.

‘We have long supported the use of the anti-overdose drug Naloxone, which has dramatically reduced the chance of drug-related deaths when dispensed by officers who have been equipped with it, and encourage its use further.

‘We remain steadfast in doing all we can to protect the people we serve, including the most vulnerable in our society and this tool is just one option we can take to achieve this.

‘The government supports more police officers carrying naloxone and see this is an important part of steps to reduce opioid deaths across the country.’

The recommendations follow an exercise in November last year that saw health services, police forces and national organisations work together to respond to different scenarios relating to synthetic opioids. 

The exercise was organised by the government’s Joint Combating Drugs Unit and chaired by the National Police Chiefs’ Council.

Michael Kill, the chief executive of the Night Time Industries Association, also welcomed the Home Office initiative of police officers carrying naloxone.

He said it represented a ‘vital step forward in the fight against opioid overdoses’.

He added: ‘Communities across England are increasingly facing the threat of dangerous synthetic drugs and this move ensures a faster, more effective response at the most critical moment.

‘The immediate administration of Naloxone can mean the difference between life and death, particularly as synthetic opioids – now more prevalent in the UK’s illegal drug market – have contributed to over 450 drug-related deaths in the past two years.

‘Equipping frontline officers with this life-saving tool, alongside the government’s new recommendations to local authorities, police, and public health organisations, shows a commitment to public safety and harm reduction.’

The Association of Police and Crime Commissioners’ joint leads on addictions and substance misuse are Joy Allen (PCC for Durham) and David Sidwick (PCC for Dorset).

In a joint statement, they said: ‘We welcome the Home Office’s report evaluating the carrying of naloxone by police officers, and the synthetic opioid local preparedness guidance. The increasing use of synthetic opioids is a deeply concerning trend and the potential impact of Nitazenes means we support the expanded carriage of naloxone by officers to save lives.

‘In the last year, the use of naloxone by police officers in England and Wales has doubled, but more needs to be done to increase these numbers so that all areas with high rates of opiate and crack usage have officers equipped to administer this effective antidote in an emergency.

‘As leaders of our local Combating Drugs Partnerships, Police and Crime Commissioners and Deputy Mayors are working with local partners to ensure police are equipped and trained to help reduce deaths from these dangerous illegal drugs.’

It comes as experts have warned the UK could face an opioid epidemic of a scale only seen so far in the US. 

Steve Rolles, a senior policy analyst at the Transform Drug Policy Foundation, told MailOnline: ‘The number of deaths is rising at an alarming rate. It’s the tip of the iceberg. What has happened in the US should be a warning to policymakers in the UK. We could be heading to a US-style overdose crisis. We are talking thousands or tens of thousands dying.

‘All the indications are that is what is happening. I’m very wary of scaremongering about drugs but I’m deeply worried about the potential carnage opioids could do in the UK.

‘We already have the highest overdose rate in Europe. Nitazenes could make it way, way worse. 

‘This is a very serious public health emergency that’s not being taken seriously enough.’

He added: ‘I am scared. There’s almost one person dying every day from nitazenes and most people haven’t even heard of it.

‘If it was anything else, there would be national panic. The government hasn’t grasped the urgency of this.’

Rolles is starting to see heroin mixed with nitazenes on the streets of Britain.

He said: ‘It does seem it’s getting more [prevalent] as the heroin supply dries up.’

Nitazenes are appearing in a variety of forms. Some are bought, often by drug dealers, as pure pills. Others are found after being cut into illegal drugs such as heroin or traditionally legal medications like Valium and Xanax – or simply sold under those brand names without having any original product in them at all.

Mixing nitazenes with other drugs can be difficult to do, meaning batches can vary in strength within a single bag. One area of illegally bought Xanax could have no nitazenes. Another area could have enough to kill you. 

Dr Philip Berry is a consultant focusing on the international drug trade and a visiting research fellow at KCL.

He was previously a counter-narcotics official at the Home Office who worked for the Afghanistan Serious and Organised Crime team and was seconded to the Synthetic Opioids Taskforce Secretariat.

One of his specialities is Anglo–American counter-narcotics policies in Afghanistan in the post 9/11 era.

Unlike Rolles, Dr Berry thinks it is unlikely that the UK will have a US-style opioid crisis but emphasised how worrying the issue was.

He said as the UK’s wider population has never had the same levels of dependency on legal opioids for pain relief plus heroin users in the UK are more likely to be in drug treatment and harm reduction programmes than their US counterparts.

He said: ‘It’s uncertain how this problem will develop, but in the short term, it is likely criminal groups will continue to embed nitazenes into the UK market.

‘Ministers and officials from across government are prioritising tackling this issue.

‘This has the potential to get worse.’ 

More than 70 types of nitazenes have been identified worldwide. At least 14 specific types have been banned in the UK, although a new law in January banned all variants with a generic definition of nitazenes to stop gangs simply synthesising new unbanned ones to skirt the law.

Rolles said: ‘Fentanyl and nitazenes are very similar. They are both synthetic opioids. We are talking about a family of drugs. Nitazene is not a single drug, there is a whole group of them.

‘They are all extremely potent and dangerous but they are all quite different. It can be many thousands of times stronger than heroin. 

‘When the dosage is unknown or it’s used as an adulterant then less than a grain of sand can be enough to kill you.

‘Pharmacy drugs are incredibly regulated. Illegal drugs are not. You don’t know how much is in your heroin or [illegally purchased] Xanax.

‘The gap between the effective dose and overdose [in NSOs] is very small.’

Even people who regularly use drugs are getting worried. A 28-year-old former drug addict who spoke to MailOnline on the condition of anonymity said nitazenes are becoming well known on the street.

‘Heavy addicts with nothing to live for are afraid of it,’ he said. ‘You don’t see that that often, so you know it’s bad.’

The former drug user said people taking drugs needed to keep aware about how nitazenes were developing in the UK market and warned against buying drugs from the dark web.

Now sober and employed, he started his path to recovery after suffering from a heart attack induced by his drug taking.

While he said he wasn’t sure whether he ever took a nitazene, he believes he tried fentanyl. 

He said: ‘Synthetics are coming through. It’s much cheaper. 

‘Heroin has been established for so long that people know how much to use. 

‘With synthetics you can take a normal quantity and you just stop breathing. 

‘It’s f***ing crazy. It’s way worse than heroin.’

In its 2025 National Strategic Assessment, the NCA said the ‘global synthetic drug markets are rapidly evolving and pose significant harm to users… and are a growing concern in the UK’.

It added: ‘The fortification of heroin with nitazenes and other synthetic opioids has increased the risks of harm to users. Drug-related deaths in the UK increased by 15% in 2023, with 4,936 drug misuse deaths in England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.

‘They are increasingly detected mixed with heroin, but also a range of counterfeit pills (such as benzodiazepines and painkillers) to strengthen effects, often without the knowledge of the user. 

‘Fentanyl has re-emerged in some regions of the UK following a dip in recent years, but the threat remains low compared to nitazenes. 

‘Since June 2023, there have been 14 deaths related to the misuse of fentanyl, including 11 where nitazenes were also present. ‘

Videos posted online have shown how drugs including synthetic opioids and synthetic cannabinoids have turned Britons into shuffling, mummering ‘zombies’ just as happened with US fentanyl addicts who have taken tranq, also known as xylazine.

Yet far from just affecting those who want to get high, the growing nitazene problem in the UK is threatening youngsters buying pills online to cope with stress, anxiety and chronic pain.

Last year, 21-year-old Harry Dunrose died after taking what he thought was a Valium for chronic pain. 

He was previously prescribed the drug to deal with his chronic hypermobility, which caused pain and stiffness in his joints.

When his prescription ran out, he told friends he was going to buy the Valium drug diazepam on the black market.

After his death on March 3, 2024, drugs containing nitazenes were found at his supported accomodation in Hyde, near Manchester.  

In a tragically similar case, promising opera singer Alex Harpum, 23, died in 2023 after swallowing what he thought was simply a Xanax pill that he bought online.

His mother Anna Jaques, from north Wales, believed he may have bought the pill because he struggled to sleep while taking medication for his attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). 

One of the earliest British victims was 19-year-old Cerys Clark, from Middlesbrough, who died in 2021, before nitazenes really started flooding into the UK.

She suffered from chronic back pain caused by scoliosis, a curvature of the spine, and Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, a rare condition that causes pain in joints which can be dislocated easily.

She died after having two counterfeit drugs – a fake Xanax and a fake OxyContin, an American synthetic opioid and painkiller.

The fake Xanax contained a powerful synthetic benzodiazepine called flualprazolam, while the fake OxyContin was laced with N-pyrrolidino etonitazene. 

Her mother Lyndsey, a nurse, previously told the Mail: ‘There is no way Cerys would have taken something like that deliberately – she’d have had no tolerance to such powerful drugs. They would have been too much for her.

‘I remember once, Cerys even went into a panic when she realised that she had taken a pain med that was slightly out of date. That’s how sensible she was.’

Lyndsey suspected Cerys was given the drugs without her knowledge by a male acquaintance she was staying with.

The man, who she later learned had bought opioids that appear to have been adulterated online from the Czech Republic died of an overdose in the same flat four months later.

Greater Manchester police said: ‘A man was arrested in connection with [Cerys’s] death and was subsequently bailed while inquiries continued to determine if a criminal offence had been committed in relation to the death. The suspect died on December 23, 2021, and as a result, the investigation into the supply of drugs was stopped from a criminal perspective.’ 

Professor Rick Lines, from the UK’s only drug testing centre Wedinos, said: ‘Perhaps people have found that they weren’t able to continue on a legitimate prescription and decided to go through what they think is an alternative legitimate route, but is in fact not.’ 

A month before Cerys died, Dylan Rocha, 21, a promising musician, also died after overdosing on heroin that is believed to have been mixed with nitazenes.

His mother previously told the Mail: ‘It’s clear to me that the presence of nitazene is what ended his life.’ 

How nitazenes are coming into the UK remains fairly unclear, although there have been reports they are available to buy online from China and receive in the post.

The cause of their re-emergence has been laid on the Taliban’s introduction of a ban on the production of narcotics in 2022, a year after the completion of British and American troops’ withdrawal from Afghanistan.

This spooked the heroin market, which relied on Afghanistan’s opium to create the dangerous drug.

Nitazenes, a drugs relic from the 1950s, were reintroduced as a way to boost low-purity heroin – and pave the way for synthetic drugs to take over the market.

Speaking about the Taliban’s narcotics ban, Dr Berry told MailOnline: ‘As the ban continues into its third year, there has not yet been a heroin supply shortage in the UK.

‘This is primarily due to substantial opium stockpiles in Afghanistan.

‘Even if there was a shortage of opium, Europe, including the UK, has high value heroin markets, so traders are likely to prioritise trafficking to the Continent.’

He added: ‘But the ban has caused market uncertainty in the UK. There’s been a drop in heroin purity at all levels and the wholesale price has increased.

‘Drug dealers have hedged against this uncertainty by reintroducing nitazenes into the UK market.

‘They re-emerged in the summer of 2023 and it seems likely nitazenes are here to stay.

‘Nitazenes offer several advantages. They can be produced anywhere in the world and they are relatively cheap to make and buy. They are widely available online making them accessible to dealers (and users) all over the world. And their high potency means you only need a small amount, therefore it’s easier to transport.

‘People are using nitazenes to fortify low-purity heroin.

‘So far, smaller-scale organised criminal groups are importing it and dealing at the county lines level as opposed to larger-scale Turkish or Pakistani groups.

‘The vast majority, if not all, are originating in China.’

He added that labs in India were also producing nitazenes and other synthetic opioids.

Charles Yates, the deputy director of the NCA, told MailOnline: ‘Poppy and opium production was very high in Afghanistan for decades prior to the Taliban ban and we judge that there remain significant reserves of heroin. This situation remains under constant review.

‘In most cases, organised criminals’ sole motivation for using nitazenes is greed. They buy potent nitazenes cheaply and mix them with bulking agents such as caffeine and paracetamol to strengthen the product being sold and make significant profits.

‘The UK is a destination for nitazenes manufactured in illicit labs in places like China but it is not always the final destination as well as into the UK using fast parcel, post and Royal Mail services. We have no evidence to indicate nitazenes are being manufactured in the UK.’

There is still debate in the UK, and worldwide, about the best way to combat drugs.

Some, such the UK and American governments, have long gone down the path of a ‘war on drugs’, focusing on smashing gangs, making narcotics illegal and discouraging drug making and taking.

Others, such as Rolles’s Transform Drug Policy Foundation believe regulation will make drugs safer for those set on using them regardless and decrease public spending on drug-related issues overall.

Rolles said: ‘The war on drugs gives crime groups more incentive to tilt the market with [more potent] drugs.

‘Very potent drugs are easy to transport. Why bring a ton of heroin when you can bring a kilogram of nitazene? A suitcase of heroin versus a matchbox of nitazene?

‘You can make the same amount of money. It’s more bang for your buck.

‘It’s a thousand times easier to smuggle than heroin, it’s relatively easy to make and you don’t need to get opium from Afghanistan or coca leaves from Colombia or grow cannabis in your basement. You just need a lab and scientists. 

‘Enforcement is doing the opposite of what it’s supposed to. It may make the importation of one drug more difficult.

‘The harder you enforce it, the harder the drugs become.’     

Earlier this year, the Home Office said measures were being stepped up across government to better equip police forces, the NHS and the Border Force to deal with synthetic drugs and the UK is contributing to international efforts to better protect communities. 

It highlighted that in a world first, Border Force dogs were being trained to detect a range of nitazenes and fentanyl, and police officers in many forces have been trained to carry and administer naloxone – a life-saving medicine that reverses the effects of opioid overdose. 

The government said it was working with the National Police Chiefs’ Council to see the provision rolled out across most forces.

It added that the NCA was also working with police and the Border Force to stem any supply of nitazenes and fentanyl to and within the UK.

Policing Minister Dame Diana Johnson said: ‘Synthetic drugs cause devastation wherever they are found – to individuals, to families, to our town centres and our communities.

‘I have been concerned about the growing presence of these drugs on UK streets and I don’t think enough has been done in recent years to get a grip on it. 

‘Stepping up efforts to tackle this threat will form a key part of this government’s approach to drugs.

‘As part of our Plan for Change and mission to make our streets safer, we are dedicated to driving down drug misuse and harms through prevention and treatment while acting quickly to stop the criminals peddling these harmful substances.’ 

The government added it was spearheading a ‘workstream’ under the US-led Global Coalition to Address Synthetic Drug Threats that will focus on how governments across the world can control the availability of synthetic drugs through legislation intelligence sharing.

Rolles, at the forefront of the nitazene crisis on the ground For Rolles, believes the threat these synthetic drugs pose is still not being taken seriously enough. 

He said: ‘We need an emergency preparedness response and we need it now. 

‘There’s no meaningful enforcement solution. The idea that you can stop nitazenes coming into the country is just not credible. We know that because of 60 years of failure. 

‘We can’t even stop drugs getting into high security prisons. The idea we can have a secure border around the UK is ridiculous.

‘Even if you could, they would just make it in the UK. That’s not to say you don’t arrest people selling drugs. Just don’t be under any illusion that it will curtail anything.’

Like the government, he agreed that naloxone needed to be more widely available.

He also called for more supervised drug taking centres to ensure that people not ready to quit had medical professionals on hand to prevent deaths.

He said drug checking clinics could also help prevent overdose and reduce public money spent helping people affected by drugs.

Dr Caroline Copeland is a senior lecturer in pharmacology and toxicology at KCL and the director of the National Programme on Substance Use Mortality.

Like her KCL colleague Dr Berry, she agreed the UK’s opioid problem had ‘very different roots to the one in the US so I don’t think we’ll see the same scale’.

However, like Rolles she warned against relying measures on attacking drug use.

She told MailOnline: ‘People dying is of course not good.

‘I think punitive measures to stop drug use in the UK isn’t working. 

‘We need to be focussing on reducing drug demand as this is the only way we’ll be able to stem drug supply.  

‘This means more investment in health and social services for people who use drugs.’

NCA deputy director Charles Yates said: ‘Tackling Class A drugs, including synthetic opioids, is a priority for the NCA to stop the harm they cause to users, communities and the UK economy.

‘We and our partners, including public health and forensic services, are proactively monitoring for sudden rises in drug-related deaths and will act quickly to reduce threats.

‘We’re working closely with policing, Border Force and international partners to stem supply of nitazenes and other synthetic opioids to and within the UK.

‘We continue to monitor the availability of heroin throughout the supply chain and, whilst we have seen a reduction in purity at street-level, at this time there is no indication of a shortage in the UK.

‘With policing, Border Force, Home Office Intelligence and international partners, we do everything possible to ensure that all lines of enquiry are prioritised and vigorously pursued to stem any supply of nitazenes to and within the UK.

‘And we collaborate with police forces and regional organised crime units to arrest offenders responsible for the supply of these drugs.

‘The NCA and partners have worked together to prevent the threat rising as fast as independent estimates expected.

‘This has been through a combination of a wide rollout of the life-saving antidote naloxone and public health measures to tackle demand, alongside strong enforcement.

‘Our officers are increasingly involved in tracking and seizing the substance. But we are not complacent and will be keeping up the pressure on those involved in supplying the drug.’

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