Deaths of three Birmingham men linked to 'new synthetic drug from dark web'

Three young men have died in Birmingham after they 'took a new synthetic drug' within months of each other.

The drug is an opioid called N-pyrrolidino etonitazene, and it is found for sale on the dark web.

Students Jakob Wozniak, who was 19, Dylan Byfield-Levell who was 20, and entrepreneur Miles Elliott Davis, who was 27, all lost their lives to the drug, according to the BBC.

The three men died in the city between October 2021 and January 2022.

The corporation reported that Dr Judith Yates, who collates drug deaths in Birmingham and identified the deaths, was "shocked" after seeing the opioid's effects.

She revealed the drugs appeared to be a replacement for the opioid painkiller fentanyl.

But it is 20 times stronger, and was bought on the dark web.

How did the three men die ?

• Mr Wozniak was found collapsed on January 3rd 2022. His inquest confirmed the compound was a primary cause of death.

• Mr Davis died on October 10th 2021. A full inquest into his death has yet to take place. The BBC reported that a pathologist suggested his cause of death was N-pyrrolidino etonitazene toxicity.

• Mr Byfield-Levell from Sutton Coldfield died on October 2nd 2021. He had been out with friends, and was found collapsed at home by a family member. He had an underlying heart condition.

Dr Yates said: "These three cases have come out of the blue, we've never seen this chemical before in Birmingham.

'There is no way to tell what's in a tablet that you're getting either online or on the street'.

What is N-pyrrolidino etonitazene ?

N-pyrrolidino etonitazene was first identified in May 2021.

An 18-year-old man - thought to be the first person to take the drug in the UK - was treated by Dr Mark Pucci - a consultant at Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

The teenager had been found unresponsive and breathing noisily by his mum in July in 2021 year.

But he was saved by an injection of an antidote naloxone. He was then sedated and placed on a ventilator.

Dr Pucci said 'He was very lucky to survive. It was only really the quick thinking of his mother'.

'He went into respiratory arrest and cardiac arrest, so is very lucky to be alive'.

Animal studies showed the drug was a thousand times more powerful than morphine, according to a report compiled by Dr Pucci on that case.

Dr Pucci said 'These cases are not really picked up on routine drug tests, so there may well be other cases that we don't yet know about.

'I understand that there may be some recent cases in London'.

Dr Pucci went on to say that N-pyrrolidino etonitazene is made up of compounds which were initially developed in the 1950s.

He said it comes from China and later arrived in the UK via Russia or Eastern Europe.

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