Weapons-grade chemical carfentanil surges as dangerous substitute for fentanyl

Nearly two decades after being sent to rehab as a teenager for drug addiction, 36-year-old Michael Nalewaja had settled into a quiet life working as an electrician in Alaska.

This all came crashing down days before Thanksgiving 2025, when he and a mutual friend unknowingly took a deadly cocktail of fentanyl and carfentanil that he may have mixed with cocaine.

“I heard the word ‘autopsy’ and I literally collapsed,” his mother, Kelley Nalewaja, said, recalling the call she received from her wife. “Even if someone had been there with Narcan — even if someone had called 911 in time — he would not have survived.”

Carfentanil, a weapons-grade chemical that authorities say is 10,000 times more potent than morphine and 100 times more powerful than fentanyl, has experienced a serious resurgence across the United States, killing hundreds of unsuspecting drug users.

This increase coincides with the Chinese government’s recent crackdown on the sale of precursors used to make fentanyl. These regulations likely encourage traffickers in Mexico to use carfentanil to boost the potency of a weakened version of fentanyl, according to U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration intelligence bulletins reviewed by The Associated Press.

The rise of a drug so lethal that less than the size of a poppy seed can kill a person comes as fentanyl seizures and overall deaths from drug overdoses continue a multi-year decline.

“You’re not even talking about a grain of salt that could be potentially lethal,” said Frank Tarentino, chief of operations for the DEA’s northeast region, which stretches from Maine to Virginia. “This presents an extremely frightening proposition for substance abusers seeking opioids on the street today.”

carfentanil surge

A decade ago, carfentanil exploded in the North American drug supply, causing hundreds of innocent drug users to overdose, only to see a steep decline afterwards. china banned Closing a major regulatory loophole in the US

But in recent years the situation has changed dramatically.

DEA labs detected carfentanil 1,400 times in U.S. drug seizures in 2025, according to DEA records viewed by the AP; This number was 145 in 2023 and only 54 in 2022.

Officials say traffickers in Mexico are trying to produce carfentanil themselves, while others may be sourcing it from China-based dealers, ignoring the country’s regulations by sending spam with ads for the drug to online forums in other countries.

Tarentino said what complicates matters for the cartels are the extreme dangers associated with carfentanil production.

“You can’t just deal with this,” he said. “This isn’t some mad scientist on Reddit going to a primitive lab in Mexico to make Carfentanil.”

Overdose deaths and fentanyl seizures

Overdose deaths decreased in the USA for more than two years – the longest decline in decades. Experts point to several possible explanations, including: Overdose reversal drug naloxone becoming more common and addiction treatment becoming more widespread. Some have also attributed this to regulatory changes the US is pushing in China.

In the case of carfentanil, even multiple high doses of naloxone may not be enough to reverse an overdose, experts say.

Seizures of fentanyl, along with some other illegal drugs, have also decreased. U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported: fentanyl seizures decreased It will reach nearly 12,000 pounds (5,443 kilograms) in 2025; This is less than half of the amount seized in 2023.

But even as fentanyl numbers decline, it remains the DEA’s main focus. The agency’s recently proposed budget included a $362 million increase focused on cartel-sourced fentanyl trafficking.

“Anyone who takes a pill their doctor didn’t prescribe is playing Russian roulette with their life,” said Sara Carter, President Donald Trump’s drug czar. “But if terrorists think they can leave this chemical war ineffective, they are mistaken,” he said.

Investigated as a chemical weapon

Although carfentanil’s prevalence still pales in comparison to fentanyl, experts still Substance that has been researched for years It was used as a chemical weapon and was used by Russian forces against Chechen separatists in 2002.

The DEA’s annual quota for legally produced carfentanil (veterinarians use it to tranquilize elephants and other large animals) is just 20 grams; This is an amount that can fit in the palm of your hand.

“It’s like a biological weapon,” said Michael King Jr., founder of the Opioid Awareness Foundation. “If the world thinks we have a problem with fentanyl, it’s minimal compared to the problem we’re going to have with carfentanil.”

Deaths from carfentanil-induced overdoses in 2024 nearly tripled from the previous year, with 413 deaths in 42 states and Washington, D.C., according to the most recent data available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Unless law enforcement really focuses on carfentanil and develops intelligence on how these drug addicts are obtaining it, there is absolutely the potential for Carfentanil to spread throughout the United States,” said Mike Vigil, the DEA’s former chief of international operations.

In recent months, the DEA has documented several large seizures of carfentanil. in October, DEA Los Angeles Field Division There were 628,000 pills containing carfentanil, while in September authorities seized more than 50,000 counterfeit M30 pills from one person. gas station in washington It turned out to be a mixture of carfentanil and acetaminophen.

‘It’s all about money’

In some cases, frequent drug users become tolerant to fentanyl and seek it out despite the danger because of the sudden euphoria it promises, explained Rob Tanguay, senior medical leader for addiction services at Recovery Alberta, a Canadian health agency. He said it appeals to the drug market because so little goes such a long way towards the supply.

“The hardest part about all this,” he said, “is that it’s all about money.”

After Michael Nalewaja’s death, his mother decided not to have a large funeral.

Instead, she held a town hall in her hometown of El Dorado Hills, Calif., bringing together local officials and mothers who had gone through similar experiences.

While she grieves over the loss of her son, a charismatic master salesman who recently received a national award from the electrical union, she pushes for major legal and legal changes to prevent others from having to go through what she did because of a drug she says was never intended for humans.

“This is not an overdose; it’s not an overdose,” he said. “This is a murder weapon.”

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Associated Press writer Joshua Goodman in Miami contributed.