Feds cracking down on new drug threat 'Tranq' a deadly mix of fentanyl with horse muscle relaxer

FOX 2 (WJBK) - This week the Office of National Drug Control Policy announced the designation of Fentanyl combined with Xylazine as an emerging drug threat.

"A fight to save lives," said Mark Totten, US Attorney. "It’s because of fentanyl that the United States is experiencing the highest number of drug poisonings ever recorded.

"Xylazine makes the crisis even worse because it is not reversible and the hideous effects they can have on people who use it."

It compromises the respiratory system and "Tranq" as it’s called on the streets, is not meant for human consumption.

The FDA-approved Xylazine is a muscle relaxer in horses and other animals. And now dealers are mixing Xylazine with other drugs for even more profit.

"Trank, Xylazine is cheap and because it has these psychoactive effects, it allows traffickers to reduce the amount of fentanyl or heroin for example, in the mixture," said Orville Green, DEA Detroit Division.

But when Xylazine is combined with other drugs, there’s a higher risk of death.

"Because Xylazine is not an opioid, Naloxone does not reverse its effects," Green added.

The Drug Enforcement Administration has issued a Public Safety Alert. Now officials are working to stop it by testing drug seizures. So officials know where the threat is.
 
In fact, reviews of DEA lab samples coming from Michigan and Ohio showed the following:

"Last year between August 2022 to March of this year, found 51% of those samples were found to contain Xylazine," Green said.

Officials are also working to Identify and prosecute drug pushers.

"Disruption of the supply lines. And accountability, for those who manufacture, and traffic in these poisons, is an important part of the solution,"  said Totten.