{"id":777604,"date":"2026-09-21T07:50:28","date_gmt":"2026-09-21T07:50:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/777604\/"},"modified":"2026-09-21T07:50:28","modified_gmt":"2026-09-21T07:50:28","slug":"new-drug-cychlorphine-possibly-10-times-stronger-than-fentanyl-surfaces-in-california","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/777604\/","title":{"rendered":"New drug cychlorphine, possibly 10 times stronger than fentanyl, surfaces in California"},"content":{"rendered":"

FRESNO, Calif. (KMPH) \u2014 A deadly drug<\/a> that wasn\u2019t even on the radar in the U.S. two years ago is now turning up in California \u2014 and federal officials warn it could eventually make its way to the Central Valley.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s called cychlorphine.<\/p>\n

The drug can come in pill or powder form, but the biggest danger may be that people can take it without knowing it\u2019s there.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’ve seen it mixed in with other narcotics like cocaine or heroin,\u201d said Peter Vainauskas, an assistant special agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration. \u201cIt could be, you know, laced on drugs that people smoke.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cychlorphine is still relatively new. Vainauskas says the DEA first encountered it in 2024 at a laboratory in Florida. Since then, the agency has recorded about 100 seizures nationwide, including roughly 35 so far this year.<\/p>\n

And now, it has reached California. Doctors warn that there is no way to know what is inside a counterfeit pill simply by looking at it.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo anything that you take that is not prescribed by a doctor, you’re truly playing Russian roulette,\u201d one doctor said.<\/p>\n

Cychlorphine-related overdose deaths have been reported in 19 states, including five in California.<\/p>\n

The drug has recently been detected in the San Francisco Bay Area, raising concerns about whether it could eventually reach the Central Valley.<\/p>\n

Vainauskas says there have not yet been any seizures of cychlorphine in the Central Valley. But he points to major drug-trafficking routes connecting the region to Northern California.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe main drug corridors from Mexico go up the routes that you just stated, 99, 5, 41, and they go up to Northern California where we have seized cychlorphine,\u201d Vainauskas said. \u201cI just believe it’s a matter of time before we do get a seizure here in Central Valley.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adding to the concern, laboratory data suggests cychlorphine could be about 10 times more potent than fentanyl.<\/p>\n

KMPH<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

But experts caution that cychlorphine has not been studied in humans, meaning much of what is known about its effects comes from laboratory research.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt may not be perfect, a perfect comparison to humans, but it’s at least a good indicator that it may be about 10 times more potent than fentanyl,\u201d the doctor said.<\/p>\n

Investigators suspect the drug is entering the United States from Mexico and being distributed by two Mexican cartels.<\/p>\n

Vainauskas says inconsistent mixing can make some pills especially dangerous.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese cartels are just mixing batches of things together,\u201d he said. \u201cOne pill, a person may take it and survive it, but the next pill may be a hot pill.\u201d<\/p>\n

The DEA says it is focusing on both prevention and enforcement, particularly in the Central Valley.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere in the Central Valley, we really focus a lot on education prevention,\u201d Vainauskas said.<\/p>\n

At the same time, agents are targeting the people they say are responsible for putting these drugs on the streets.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’re going after these drug dealers, these cartel members that are distributing poison in the community and we’re bringing them to justice,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The DEA says the warning is simple: If a drug was not prescribed to you, there is no guarantee you know what is actually in it.<\/p>\n

And with cychlorphine already detected in California, officials warn that a pill may look harmless, but you can’t see what could kill you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FRESNO, Calif. (KMPH) \u2014 A deadly drug that wasn\u2019t even on the radar in the U.S. two years…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":777605,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[102,6591,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-777604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-medication","tag-health","tag-medication","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777604","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777604"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777604\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/777605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}