Three men have died since October 2021 after buying a new synthetic drug on the dark web. Three men have died in Birmingham after taking N-pyrrolidino etonitazene, reports the BBC.
Students Dylan Michael Byfield-Levell, 20, and Jakob Wozniak, 19, and entrepreneur Miles Elliott Davis, 27, all died. Mr Byfield-Levell was found collapsed at home by a relative at 5.15am on October 2, 2021 after being out with friends and later died.
Mr Wozniak was found collapsed on January 3, 2022. His inquest confirmed the compound was a primary cause of death. An inquest is yet to be completed into the death of Mr Davis, who died on 10 October but a pathologist has suggested the cause of death was N-pyrrolidino etonitazene toxicity.
Dr Judith Yates said: "These three cases have come out of the blue, we've never seen this chemical before in Birmingham."
She said the drug appears to be a replacement for fentanyl, but much stronger, and is being bought on the dark web. N-pyrrolidino etonitazene is a synthetic opioid, 20 times stronger than fentanyl.
A person thought to be the first in the UK found to have taken the drug was an 18-year-old man who, in July 2021, was discovered unresponsive and breathing noisily by his mother, who then began CPR.
When paramedics arrived he had no pulse and was not breathing but was saved by an injection of an antidote.
