Warning that street drugs are so concentrated that a dose the size of a grain of sand can kill you

Six people have died in jails in a month, four of them believed to be linked to powerful opioids, prompting a warning about a super-potent street drug.

South Wales Police say nitazine, a drug many times more potent than heroin, has been linked to the deaths of four prisoners at HMP Parc in Bridgend, South Wales.

Two of the deaths are being treated as non-suspicious, while the other four are believed to be drug-related.

A worrying surge in the quantity of powerful synthetic opioids known as nitroxide, some of which are 500 times stronger than morphine, has been detected in at least 20 UK postcodes since September. independent revealed last year.

The drugs are so dangerous that a dose the size of a grain of sand can kill and have tainted the heroin supply since 2019, but are increasingly being found in counterfeit prescription anti-anxiety medications sold on the dark web and online pharmacies.

Detective Inspector Steve Jones of South Wales Police said: “At this stage we are unable to confirm that these four deaths are linked to any specific drug, but we have undertaken rapid procedures and have identified nitrates as being associated with all drugs. exist.” Four people died.

“Spice has been identified in two of the four deaths.

“Post mortems have been completed on two of the four men and the cause of death is inconclusive at this stage and we are awaiting toxicology results.

“Two other men are awaiting autopsies.”

A multi-agency investigation has been launched involving the prison, prison operator G4S, the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman and Public Health Wales.

Inspector Adrian Usher has urged inmates at the prison to dispose of any drugs.

John Rose and Jason Hussey both died on February 27 at the private Category B prison in Bridgend, Christopher Christopher Stokes died on March 9.

The names of the other three people who died in prison have not yet been released.

These deaths are among the 20 deaths the organization has been notified of and begun investigating since January 2022.

On Wednesday, security company G4S, which runs the prison, said its thoughts were with the family and friends of the prisoner who died at HMP Parc.

The prison had previously been the focus of a scandal in 2022 after a nurse working there was jailed for having a relationship with an inmate.

That same year, Chief Inspector of Prisons Charlie Taylor warned in a report that there were “high” rates of violence at the prison, one of the largest in England and Wales with around 1,700 men incarcerated. And said the rate of self-harm remains high compared with similar sites.

The UK Home Office announced in November that it would crack down on synthetic opioids, including 15 new drugs. These include 14 nitrate compounds, which are expected to become Class A compounds in the New Year, but there are concerns this will not help stop them flooding the illegal drug market.