A deadly drug that wasn’t even on the radar in the U.S. two years ago is now turning up in California — and federal officials warn it could eventually make its way to the Central Valley.
It’s called cychlorphine.
The drug can come in pill or powder form, but the biggest danger may be that people can take it without knowing it’s there.
“We've seen it mixed in with other narcotics like cocaine or heroin,” said Peter Vainauskas, an assistant special agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration. “It could be, you know, laced on drugs that people smoke.”
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.
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