Mexico warns of ‘zombie drug’ xylazine found in opioids at US border

Such drugs, known as “zombie drugs,” are exacerbating the opioid crisis.

The animal tranquilizer xylazine has been identified as a worrying threat in cities across the US and UK. Now, Mexican public health officials are raising concerns after a study found xylazine in opioids in cities along the country’s northwest border with the United States.

Nicknamed “the drug” and the “zombie drug,” xylazine has exacerbated the opioid crisis in U.S. cities such as Philadelphia. It can make an overdose more difficult to treat and increase the risk of death.

Mexico’s health ministry issued an alert to medical workers and first responders in border cities. Xylazine is not approved for human use in either Mexico or the United States.

According to an April 8 alert issued by the Joint Mental Health and Addiction Council of the Mexican Ministry of Health, heroin and fentanyl may have been laced with xylazine “targeting health personnel and first responders in Mexican border cities.”

according to ReutersA study by Mexico’s National Psychiatric Institute found that 35 percent of heroin samples and 26 percent of fentanyl samples tested in Tijuana and Mexico contained xylazine. The ongoing research is not specifically looking for xylazine, underscoring its surprising prevalence.

The findings come amid concerns about rising fentanyl use in Mexico. Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid that causes tens of thousands of overdose deaths in the United States each year.

The study was designed to identify adulterants in the drug, rather than specifically looking for xylazine.

“We were surprised to find xylazine,” said Clara Fleiz, a researcher at Mexico’s National Institute of Psychiatry and the study’s lead author.