Three men have died and around ten victims have been admitted to intensive care since the beginning of June. Toxicology analyzes are in progress.
The warning was issued in early September. In a frightening press release, the Regional Health Authority (ARS) of Reunion Island reports the “spread of an unidentified substance with a lethal risk”. According to initial investigations, two synthetic opiates were detected: protonitazene and etonitazene. These new products, “1000 times stronger than morphine and 500 times stronger than heroin”, belong to a family of synthetic opioids, the Nitazene, explains David Mété, head of the addiction department at the University Hospital of La Réunion, to Le Figaro.
Three men have died and around 10 victims have reportedly been admitted to intensive care since late June last year. The Reunion Court opened three separate investigations to determine the causes of these deaths. And several toxicological analyzes are underway – two in Réunion and one in mainland France. The task is difficult because the substances mentioned have a very rapid metabolism in these fatal poisonings. In other words, it is very difficult to find traces of it on the victims. At this time, no connection between these three deaths has been legally established and it is hypothesized that this was a death due to a toxic cause without third-party intervention.
Products stronger than fentanyl
Although Reunion Island is not spared from global drug trafficking, the presence of these substances on the French island is an unprecedented and worrying fact. “These connections,” explains David Mété, “already exist in the United States. And they’re stronger than fentanyl. For comparison, this synthetic opioid, which will be linked to more than two-thirds of the state’s 110,000 overdose deaths in 2022, is already fifty times more powerful than heroin.
Also read: How fentanyl is shaking up the drug market in America
“The special thing about Réunion is that we do not have a real problem of opiate addiction, unlike in the United States, where the addiction is of a drug nature,” the doctor continues. And we don’t see any addiction to illegal opiates like in the Seychelles or Mauritius. In contrast to the French department, “brown sugar,” an Indo-Pakistani heroin, is wreaking havoc on these two islands in the Indian Ocean. But the use of synthetic drugs called synthetic cannabinoids, which emerged in Mayotte, has spread to Mauritius and Réunion in the last six years.
An “alarming” situation in prisons
The first death occurred on June 27 at the Saint-Denis penitentiary, where a 22-year-old prisoner died in his cell, a source familiar with the case confirmed to Le Figaro, confirming information from Le Parisien. And four other young prisoners were hospitalized. “One was given cardiac massage in the playground and another was taken to the emergency room four times,” explains Alexandre Vissouvanadin, Secretary General of the UFAP-UNSA Justice for the Réunion-Mayotte region. At the Port detention camp, several prisoners whose analysis results are still awaited were also taken to hospital in a “comatose state”. The brigadier general says the situation is “alarming” both for the health of prisoners and for security in prisons. “Inmates can set a trap for each other. And as with any human trafficking, there is a risk that the situation could degenerate into a reckoning,” he adds. And we call for additional resources to curb this scourge, particularly networks to thwart the “projectors” that send these drugs into the prison environment.
The other two deaths occurred in July in the east of the island, in Saint-André, where two men were found dead in their homes. This suggests that the trafficking of this substance is already successful, although it is currently impossible to quantify the consumption of these drugs on the island. However, the court says it cannot confirm that “these people died for the same reason and from the same product.”
All routes of administration are possible: ingestion, vaporization, sniffing, inhalation… But in the cases observed, the victims mainly smoked these mysterious drugs. These extremely dangerous products directly affect the respiratory centers of the brain and, even in small quantities, can cause an overdose. “The consumer can fall into a coma within a few minutes,” explains David Mété. We have to be able to intervene very quickly.”
“Chemical Submission”
The victims showed the same symptoms. The patients in the intensive care unit between the ages of 21 and 46 had in particular “severely constricted pupils and eyes” with “very slow or absent breathing,” explains the head of the addiction department at the University Hospital of La Réunion. They primarily consume chimik tobacco, also called the “shaman drug,” a synthetic cannabinoid that is 200 to 300 times stronger than cannabis. But a priori they are not dependent on opiates.
When they woke up from the coma, some also reported consuming it without their knowledge. “There would have been a phenomenon of chemical subjugation,” suspects Doctor Mété. On its website, the ARS warns consumers and recommends that they “never” accept a cigarette or other product without knowing its origin.
These mysterious substances came to light when products such as “Zamal” – indigenous cannabis –, cocaine, ecstasy and certain synthetic opioids emerged and became widely consumed on Reunion Island in recent years. “The activity of specialized services, especially customs, is increasing,” assure the public prosecutor’s office. As for the mysterious substances, the conditions under which they arrived on the island are still being investigated.
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