A months-long open source investigation by Bellingcat and publishing partner Postimees has identified a trove of more than 1,000 online adverts selling six of the most common types of nitazenes and offering worldwide delivery.
The investigation team analysed the websites, social media accounts and contact details related to the ads, and searched business registries for information on companies associated with the drug sales.
It established that a series of entities linked to the advertisements match listings for companies on China’s corporate register — including one registered company that is advertising scores of nitazenes online.
Requests for public information, including court files and customs records, uncovered additional evidence linking nitazenes shipments seized in Europe back to China.
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Nitazenes are up to 40 times more powerful than fentanyl and up to 500 times more potent than heroin. Even trace quantities of these drugs can lead to respiratory failure and it can sometimes take up to six or seven shots of an opioid overdose-reversing drug to save lives, rather than a single shot.
Since 2019, nitazenes have been found all over the world, including in at least 20 European countries, the US, Canada, and Australia.
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Advertisements for nitazenes have infiltrated all corners of the internet: from an Australian sport fishing forum and a Congolese media outlet, to a Singaporean property site and ISSUU, a major publishing platform.
They were found on dozens of websites, including prominent Asian-headquartered marketplaces targeting international buyers, such as TradeFord, TradeKey, TradeAsia and IndiaMART. The ads also appeared on LinkedIn and the social media site X.
The platforms that responded to questions from Bellingcat last week pledged to pull nitazenes ads from their websites, but at the time of publication listings for the drugs still littered the internet.
Often, the suppliers of nitazenes are listed as Chinese companies. But these organisations are shape-shifting entities. Sellers hide behind opaque business structures: they regularly change addresses, use multiple emails and phone numbers, and promote contact via messaging platforms such as Telegram. Some appear to photoshop their names onto images of large factories. Many use generic photographs of young models or celebrities to market their drugs.
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