ZOMBIE-like men and women shuffling through the streets, and slumped in litter-strewn alleyways, nurse open sores as their flesh is eaten away.
This horrifying scene, which sounds like a dystopian movie, is the daily reality of Kensington, Philadelphia – where a deadly new drug is sweeping the streets and creating a new wave of opioid addicts.
GettyUsers become dependant on getting the high which sees them act like zombies[/caption]
National GeographicFentanyl is produced in Mexico before being transported over the border into Mexico[/caption]
GettyKensington, Philadelphia, has seen huge chunks of the population fall foul of the drug[/caption]
National GeographicInvestigative journalist Mariana Van Zeller is examining the problem in a new documentary[/caption]
Tranq Dope is a toxic cocktail of fentanyl and animal tranquilliser which is hopelessly addictive – and eats users’ bodies from the inside out, leaving them with devastating open wounds and rotting flesh.
The toxic mix has also made it’s way to the UK and has been linked to 11 deaths, including Karl Warburton, 43, the first British victim, who died in 2023.
One addict says: “Once you are hooked, you are hooked. It’s the only thing on your mind.”
Now investigative journalist Mariana Van Zeller has discovered that a ban on producing fentanyl by a Mexican drug cartel could be fuelling the problem.
To see first-hand the devastation caused by Tranq Dope, Mariana visited Kensington, Philadelphia, on the frontline of America’s war on drugs.
The neighbourhood has been called the largest open air drug market on the East Coast and the local police are over-whelmed.
There were more than 100,000 overdose deaths in America in 2022 and the majority involved fentanyl, a synthetic opioid 50 times more powerful than heroin.
Ariana Ortiz, whose sister Melissa died of an overdose, says: “It is sad how many people don’t understand addiction.
“We need to humanise addicts and just try to eliminate the stigma. Because they are somebody’s sister, and daughter and mother. They most of the time have loving family who just want them to come home.”
Melissa became one of 2.5m Americans to fall victim to the opioid crisis.
GettyFentanyl is known as a zombie drug for the trance like state it produces in users[/caption]
GettyA new cocktail, a mix of fentanyl and Xylazine is leaving people with rotting wounds[/caption]
The infamous Sinola cartel is supply both ingredients separately
Charlie Nolan is a former fentanyl user who now works for Savage Sisters, a harm reduction service working with Kensington’s addicts.
Charlie and his co-workers are seeing shocking evidence that something has changed in the local fentanyl supply, making it even worse.
Users are presenting with open wounds and rotting flesh that are not caused by fentanyl alone, but from the Tranq Dope cocktail that is made with an animal tranquilliser called Xylazine.
Kensington is now Ground Zero for Tranq Dope and medics are struggling to understand the horrific open wounds that the drug is causing.
Charlie says: “I have seen people who have lost an arm and a leg, or both legs.”
The more you mix, the more profit you make
Chilli
But the reason behind the emergence of this deadly new drug is a mysterious move by the Mexican drug cartels, who have suddenly halted the highly lucrative fentanyl production line – slaughtering any ‘chemists’ who dared to flout their ban.
Mariana says: “The Sinaloa cartel has made hundreds of millions of dollars flooding the United States with fentanyl. Now they seem to be violently pumping the brakes on this lucrative black market. But why? Why is the cartel killing its own chemists?
“Why are these murders somehow connected to the Tranq Dope which is flooding America’s streets?”
A former Sinaloa cartel chemist – Gabriel – told Mariana: “You don’t mess with that family. Whatever they say goes. I’m scared of them to tell you the truth. Because they’re really wicked.
“They have equipment. They have drones. Stuff that you wouldn’t find anywhere else. Everyone gets checked out all the time to make sure you don’t step out of line.”
Cash cow
National GeographicCartels are stopping making fentanyl because of the US crackdown on their leaders[/caption]
National GeographicChemist 08 says his lab was shut down despite the huge profit for making the drug[/caption]
GettyThe cartels don’t make Tranq Dope, they just supply the drugs needed to make it[/caption]
Before the fentanyl prohibition, Gabriel cooked fentanyl in an underground tunnel at his home, producing 25-30lbs each week.
Fentanyl has a street value of around $10,000 per pound, meaning Gabriel was generating hundreds of thousands of profit for the cartel.
He was paid handsomely for his work – until suddenly it stopped when four men in masks paid him a visit.
“They said if they catch anyone working here, this will be the last job you ever do,” he says.
The orders came from Ovidio Guzman, son of El Chapo – the most successful drug trafficker in Mexican history.
But in 2016 El Chapo was captured by the Mexican marines and sentenced to life in prison in the US. His sons – El Chapitos – then took over.
But in 2023 Ovidio was also busted. El Chapo and his sons always denied producing fentanyl.
And former chemist Gabriel believes they halted the production lines in a bid to get US law enforcement off their backs as they try to stop the deadly spread of fentanyl.
But that doesn’t explain the rise of powerful cocktails like Tranq Dope on America’s streets.
I have seen people who have lost an arm and a leg, or both legs
Charlie Nolan
According to US customs, in 2023, the year the embargo was announced, there was a 30 per cent increase in fentanyl seizures in the United States. “Something doesn’t add up,” says Mariana.
A Sinaloa cartel messenger – calling himself The Crow – agreed to meet Mariana, and insisted the drug production line was pretty much dead after the US government crackdown.
But he did reveal that the cartel had huge stockpiles of fentanyl stashed away in warehouses.
And he arranged for her to go to a secret lab where some of the remaining drugs were stored.
The chemist there, known as 08, told her: “The gringos love this stuff. It’s not our fault, right? It’s up to each person who uses it. I don’t have any vices, thank God!”
He is a chemist and cartel commander in charge of 70 men in secret makeshift backyard labs.
“The prohibition is not a total embargo. It is more of a marketing ploy, a publicity campaign to convince the Americans to back off,” says Mariana.
Orders to stop
National GeographicMariana is told the crackdown is to stop cartel bosses being locked up in the US[/caption]
National Geographic08’s lab is now producing significantly less of the drug that it used to[/caption]
Karl Warburton was the first person in the UK whose death was linked to Tranq Dope
08 told her that he was producing ten times less fentanyl than before. And despite the loss of billions of dollars of drugs income, it is more important for the cartel to keep their bosses free.
Mariana explains: “So that is why the world’s most successful drug cartel seemingly wants to kill one of its biggest cash cows. They don’t care about America’s overdose deaths, they care about their leaders getting locked up in American prisons.”
And she discovered it wasn’t the Mexicans mixing Xylazine with fentanyl – that was actually being being done in the US.
In Miami, Mariana met two of the city’s biggest Tranq Dope dealers, Chilli and Cheese.
Chilli told her he buys his fentanyl from the Mexican cartels, but he gets the Xylazine in Miami.
He says: “I have connections that I’ve grown up with that have become veterinarians. But you can actually buy the stuff in bulk, on the dark web.”
According to Chilli, there is a good reason Tranq Dope is replacing ordinary fentanyl. And it has got nothing to do with the cartel’s prohibition.
Addictive nature
GettyThe potent cocktail of drugs is mixed up by dealers in the US wanting a higher profit[/caption]
National GeographicMariana travelled to Mexico to speak with the Sinola cartel about the drugs[/caption]
Experts say the Tranq Dope high is much more like a heroin high. While the high from fentanyl is fast-acting and intense, but short-lived, if it’s mixed with Xylazine the effects are drawn out.
But there is more than just chemistry at play – it all comes down to money.
Chill explains: “The more you mix, the more profit you make. It knocks you out. Yeah people go for this stuff because of the nod. It’s essentially what it is, it is a tranquilliser.”
Often addicts don’t even know that their fentanyl is cut with Xylazine.
And despite the horrific flesh-eating side-effects, the users keep coming back for more.
Mariana says: “There is not much data available yet on the long-term side effects of Xylazine.
“But what is clear is this animal tranquiliser is present in over 90 per cent of the drugs sold in Kensington. Xylazine is no longer an adulterant in the fentanyl supply, it is the supply.
“Users never had a choice in the matter. It was slowly mixed into the drug supply. They know now, but it is too late, most are hooked.”
Trafficked with Mariana Van Zeller airs Mondays on National Geographic at 10pm. The Tranq Dope Underground episode is available now.
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