Lethal ‘tranq’ has ‘penetrated’ illicit drug market in UK

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A powerful tranquilliser has “penetrated” the UK illicit drug market, new research from King’s College London has found, as illegal synthetic substances already present in the US spread across Europe.

Xylazine was identified on 35 occasions across UK toxicology labs, drug-testing facilities and in drug seizures between May 2022 and August 2023, according to a study published on Wednesday.

The study of the prevalence of the synthetic drug, the first research of its kind, said UK labs had found xylazine in 16 people, 11 of whom had died.

Known as “tranq” and commonly used to sedate animals, xylazine is often cut with heroin or the synthetic opioid fentanyl and can lead to dangerously low breathing and heart rates. It also causes open wounds to form on the skin when injected, which can lead to infection and limb amputation in extreme cases.

Researchers said the drug had also been found in samples of cannabis-based vapes and counterfeit prescription tablets in the UK, alongside fentanyl and heroin.

Caroline Copeland, senior lecturer at King’s College London and the report’s senior author, said the research showed xylazine had “penetrated the UK’s illicit drug market”.

“This is not a problem just for the heroin users. This is a problem for a wider population of people who use drugs, who might not think that they’re at risk of xylazine harm,” she added.

Tranq was first detected in an opioid-related death in the US in 2006. The first death attributed to xylazine outside of North America was detected in Solihull, West Midlands, in May 2022, after which monitoring of its use in the UK increased.

It has also recently been detected by authorities in Estonia and Latvia, according to a review published in February by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, which advises the UK government.

The findings of the KCL study, published in the journal Addiction, follow a rise in drug deaths in the UK and record seizures of illicit drugs by European ports.

A record 4,907 deaths in Britain were linked to illicit drugs in 2022, the latest year for which official data is available.

In the year to March 2023, UK Border Force teams seized more than 92 tonnes of illegal drugs, the highest volume since 2003, with cocaine seizures rising by 100 per cent.

Europe has also recorded record rates of drug seizures, with 303 tonnes of cocaine seized in 2021, according to continent-wide figures from the EU’s drugs monitoring agency, EMCDDA.

Users rarely intend to order xylazine. Drug gangs typically cut fentanyl with tranq to prolong the high associated with the drug and mimic the lengthy highs experienced by heroin users, said Copeland.

Xylazine has also been increasingly cut with heroin as opium production has dwindled in Afghanistan, a big source of the drug, under the Taliban.

Data from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime showed a 95 per cent drop in opium production in Afghanistan in 2023 compared with 2022, leading to an increase in lower quality heroin cut with synthetic opioids.

Synthetic drugs such as fentanyl and xylazine were particularly difficult to stop because they could be smuggled into countries in concentrated form and then diluted for use, said Copeland, adding: “Thousands of doses can be put inside a greetings card.”

The Home Office said it was “aware of the threat from xylazine” and would “not hesitate to act to keep the public safe”.

“Following advice from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, we intend to make xylazine a class C drug, meaning anyone supplying this substance will face up to 14 years in prison, a fine or both,” it added.