Authorities crack down on another webshop linked to at least one fake oxycodone death
The Public Prosecution Service is taking action not only against Funcaps.nl but also against another website, Slaappillen.net, which sold unlimited medicines without a prescription and is linked to at least one death after supplying a counterfeit version of the strong painkiller oxycodone, NOS reported.
Those pills contained the extremely dangerous synthetic substance nitazenes. The Public Prosecution Service describes nitazenes as a "synthetic opioid that is often tens to thousands of times stronger than morphine," meaning that even a slight dosing error can quickly result in an overdose.
Since last year, the Netherlands Forensic Institute (NFI) has investigated six deaths and four serious poisonings linked to nitazenes, most involving counterfeit oxycodone. The NFI does not rule out that more deaths may be related to nitazenes.
Two men, aged 28 and 33, suspected of involvement with Slaappillen.net, are in custody and are scheduled to appear in court for the first time on December 15. The 33-year-old man is also charged with preparatory acts for the import and export of cocaine.
The investigation into Slaappillen.net was prompted by the discovery last April of the body of a 44-year-old woman in Voorburg, in the municipality of Leidschendam-Voorburg. Police found, among other items, packaging for a substance she had bought as oxycodone from the webshop.
Tests revealed that both the pills and the woman's blood contained nitazenes, suggesting that the drugs were likely counterfeit and produced in a clandestine laboratory.
NFI toxicologist Kristof Maudens told NOS that at the end of last year, the institute detected a nitazene in the blood of a deceased person for the first time. "This year, the count is already at five nitazene-related deaths. In addition, there have been four serious nitazene poisonings in people who survived," Maudens said, noting that "in almost all cases, the nitazene was found in fake oxycodone tablets."
He added that as NFI, “we have no visibility on toxicological research carried out elsewhere, so the actual numbers could be higher."
The Trimbos Institute had already issued a warning in March about fake oxycodone containing nitazenes following the death of a man in Amsterdam. “Within the group of nitazenes are various extremely potent and dangerous substances,” said Pieter Oomen of Trimbos. “Sometimes less than a milligram can already cause life-threatening situations, such as breathing problems.”
