Can the latest wave of deadly drugs from China be stopped?

The synthetic opioid fentanyl has become one of America’s biggest killers. Now even stronger ‘nitazenes’ have begun to emerge from China’s huge chemical industry, prompting fears of a global health crisis. Danny Vincent talks to those on either side of the front line.

The World Today Published 9 September 2024 4 minute READ

Danny Vincent

Senior journalist, BBC

Behind a computer screen in the northern Chinese city of Shijiazhuang, Dina sends emails promoting new products to her global client list. She uses a VPN to bypass the firewall imposed by the government and updates her multiple social media accounts with photos of white powder and precursor chemicals. Her profile picture looks like an AI-generated selfie. Each message is punctuated with smiley faced emojis. 

‘All my prices are factory prices. I can give you a discount if you order in large quantities. I have many professional chemistry researchers. I have many companies and factories. I have my own transportation route, and I can send it safely,’ she wrote when I posed as a customer, sending images of substances in plastic bags on scales. (I hasten to add I bought nothing.) 

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