Thousands Of Online Adverts Discovered For Killer Opioids

More than 3,000 adverts have been found selling deadly new super-strength opioids which have already been linked to over 100 UK deaths.

- AMY-CLARE MARTIN

Nitazenes - which were recently made class-A illegal drugs were found being advertised in posts on X, formerly Twitter, and music platform SoundCloud.

It comes after The Independent previously revealed the potent synthetic opioids – some of which are 500 times stronger than morphine – are flooding drugs markets and have even been detected in Britain’s prisons.

Now an undercover investigation has revealed how dealers are abusing social media to advertise the drugs which are then sent in the post. The BBC England Investigations Team found evidence of nearly 3,000 posts on music site SoundCloud, some dating back a year. Posts contained brief audio clips, often lasting just a few seconds, with the drug’s name and contact details appearing as the title of the track. They also found more than 700 posts on X. The oldest had been on the platform for more than 18 months.

One of the suppliers advertising on X had been indicted and sanctioned in the US in September 2023 over the shipping of 15kg of nitazenes from China. However, reporters were able to find a post from the same seller still visible on X in March 2024.