Investigations have revealed that a deadly ‘Franken drug’ is being advertised on X and Soundcloud and is flooding into Britain.
Thousands of social media posts promoting Nitazenes have been removed amid fears they could fuel the spread of the powerful illegal drug.
It has been linked to more than 100 deaths in Britain, an average of almost three per week in recent times.
Following a BBC investigation in the Class A narcotic, the two social media giants removed some of these posts, but many mentions still remained online.
Chinese-made Nitazenes have become popular among criminals and are smuggled into Britain to be mixed with heroin and other illegal substances because they are cheap and addictive.
They are produced in laboratories and are hundreds of times more powerful than fentanyl, heroin and morphine.
Thousands of social media posts promoting Nitazenes have been removed over fears they could fuel the spread of the powerful illegal drug
Following a BBC investigation into the Class A narcotic, SoundCloud removed some of these posts, but many mentions still remained online
Nitazenes were originally developed as painkillers by the Swiss pharmaceutical company Ciba in the 1950s, but never came to market.
However, they have emerged in recent years among drug users in the US, earning the nickname “Frankenstein” opioids because they are so powerful.
It is believed to have formally arrived in Britain about three years ago, when the National Crime Agency first discovered it among overdose patients.
Users often unknowingly ingest them when consuming other illegal substances because dealers want to reduce production costs.
The BBC contacted 35 suppliers of the drug: 14 advertised on SoundCloud, six advertised on X, and 15 contacted through a website advertising wholesale chemical manufacturers.
After testing a range of drugs in a laboratory, they found Nitazenes in street heroin and black market anti-anxiety pills such as Xanax and Valium, which dealers had falsely claimed to be.
The evidence suggests that dozens of suppliers are mailing Nitazenes from China, where they are manufactured in laboratories, after openly advertising them on the Internet.
The majority of the ads included the name and images of the drug, as well as contact information for secure messaging platforms and promises of secure shipping or customs clearance.
Many also offered bulk purchases for dealers to resell in small batches, rather than selling to individual drug users.
Some of these suppliers told the BBC they would bypass customs by disguising the Nitazenes in dog food and catering supplies.
Nitazenes are available in powder, tablet and liquid form and can be injected, swallowed, placed under the tongue, snorted and vaporized
When asked how they used SoundCloud to advertise their product, one vendor said, “It’s a music platform, but we can advertise on it.”
Nitazenes are available in powder, tablet and liquid form and can be injected, swallowed, placed under the tongue, snorted and vaporized.
The drugs cause feelings of pain relief, euphoria, relaxation and drowsiness. But they can also cause sweating, itching and nausea.
Nitazenes mimic the effects of natural opioids – such as morphine – and are often adulterated with these drugs, creating a deadly cocktail.
According to data from the UK Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, in 2021 alone there were two dozen deaths from isotonitazene, a form of nitazene.
Claire Rocha’s musical son Dylan was one of the first deaths from nitazene-contaminated medicines in Britain.
Dylan’s band was on tour in Britain before the Covid pandemic when he was found dead in Southmapton in 2021.
Ms Rocha described the recent findings as “shocking” and added that it was “absolutely insane” that thousands of ads were being placed on SoundCloud and X.
She said, ‘How could that happen? How many people have died as a result of the advertising that is being made there?’
Charles Yates of the National Crime Agency said the rise in nitazenes is down to the fact that the drug is cheap to produce, which attracts criminals whose ‘only motivation is greed’.
He also stressed that the agency is working with police, Border Force and international partners to ensure that ‘all lines of inquiry are prioritized and vigorously pursued to stop the flow of nitazenes into and within Britain’.
Last month, 14 nitazenes and one other synthetic opioid were categorized as Class A drugs under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. This means anyone found in possession of them could be sentenced to seven years in prison or an unlimited fine.
Nitazenes were originally developed as painkillers by the Swiss pharmaceutical company Ciba in the 1950s, but they never made it to market
Home Secretary James Cleverly said the ban adopted a generic definition of nitazenes to scrutinize any new drugs that emerge in the future.
He said: ‘We are on high alert to the threat of synthetic drugs and have taken a range of preventive measures, learning from experiences around the world, to keep these vile drugs off our streets.
‘Our plan is working: the overall amounts of synthetic opioids reaching Britain remain lower than in other countries, but we are not complacent.
‘Placing these toxic drugs under the strictest controls sends a clear message that the consequences of selling them will be serious.’
According to the Ministry of Interior, “an intensive operational effort has been made to track down (Nitazenes) and their suppliers – on the streets, at the borders and online.”
It also made clear that tech companies must “do more to quickly remove this type of content… and prevent users from being exposed to it” to comply with the Online Safety Act, which came into force last year.
When the suppliers were asked why they were supplying an illegal product, only six responded and all claimed they had never sent anything to Britain.
SoundCloud told the BBC it had been “targeted by bad actors” and said it pledged to do “all we can to tackle this global epidemic.” The website also removed nearly 3,000 posts.
MailOnline has contacted SoundCloud and X for further comment.