Deadly drug nitazene found in the Netherlands for the first time

Police have found the deadly drug nitazene for the first time in the Netherlands. This was confirmed by a police spokeswoman, according to a report in Nieuwsuur. The pills were found in a package in a mail sorting company in Delft.

Initially, the police assumed that they were a thousand pills of the painkiller oxycodone, as they were stamped OC80. The investigation revealed that it was not oxycodone but protonitazene, a drug that is about 100 times stronger than heroin, according to the police spokeswoman. “This substance is very dangerous when abused,” the spokeswoman said.

Nitazenes are synthetic painkillers. They are not used as medicines in the Netherlands. “You only need very little of it to already feel an effect,” explains addiction support center Jellinek. “That can be dangerous if you use the drug as a medicine. You take too much too quickly and cause an overdose.” Nitazenes are similar to morphine but can be several hundred times more potent. They are even more deadly than heroin, according to the BBC.

In the UK, people have already died from an overdose of the drug. Nitazenes have been linked to nearly three UK deaths a week on average in 2024, the BBC reported.

The package found in Delft was supposed to go to a recipient in the United States. The police have not yet arrested anyone.