The Czech National Drug Headquarters has issued a public warning following a series of suspected overdoses involving synthetic opioids, including two deaths.
Police are investigating three incidents in which individuals came into contact with a white crystalline substance believed to be a highly potent opioid. One person survived thanks to timely intervention by paramedics; two others died, authorities say.
Toxicology results are pending, but investigators suspect the substances may belong to a group of synthetic opioids such as nitazenes, spirochlorphine, or fentanyl derivatives—compounds so powerful that even microscopic doses can be fatal.
These opioids, part of a wider category known as new psychoactive substances (NPS), often reach users in Europe via postal shipments arranged through the darknet or closed social media networks. While Czech authorities haven’t recorded large-scale seizures, these drugs are increasingly appearing in counterfeit painkillers or sold illicitly as “synthetic heroin.”
Most of these substances originate in China and India. Their growing availability is linked to tighter fentanyl regulations and a drop in opium supply following the ban on poppy cultivation in Afghanistan.
Authorities urge the public not to experiment with unknown substances. A single dose, they warn, can be deadly.
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