US authorities have warned people visiting the United States for the World Cup that taking recreational drugs could expose them to deadly doses of fentanyl, the powerful synthetic opioid.
"We want to make sure that they are aware that the drugs that are on the streets and sold online are lethal," Frank Tarentino, an official with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), told AFP.
"Almost all the drugs that we're seizing today have fentanyl in them," he said during a visit to a DEA laboratory in New York on Thursday.
Tarentino noted that 29 percent of pills analyzed in DEA laboratories nationwide contain a lethal dose of fentanyl, which is roughly two milligrams.
Overdose deaths have surged in the United States since the late 2010s, peaking at 108,000 in 2022 including 73,000 linked to synthetic opioids, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The total has since declined, with 80,000 deaths in 2024 -- of which 48,000 were linked to synthetic opioids, which remain the leading cause of overdose deaths.
The nasal spray naloxone, also known by the brand name Narcan, can rapidly reverse the effects of an opioid overdose, and Tarentino urged people to buy it from a pharmacy.
"Because if somebody on the city street is in an overdose state, anybody walking past who has naloxone can administer that to that overdosed person," he explained.
Tarentino dismissed the accuracy of fentanyl test strips, saying they can give "a false sense of security."
He added that the DEA had no evidence that traffickers might be specifically targeting World Cup fans ahead of the tournament, which kicks off June 11 in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
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