Cole Sinanian
AFTER Madrid police discovered a possible vial of fentanyl — the deadly opioid wreaking havoc on the streets of US cities — during a drug raid last week, the city’s vice mayor Inmaculada Sanz urged calm, insisting that there’s no cause for alarm.
“We’re taking measures to prevent this extremely dangerous substance from circulating our streets,” Sanz said during a press conference on Thursday.
In a joint operation between Madrid Municipal Police and Spanish National Police on March 7, officers discovered 10 different illicit substances, including MDMA, marijuana, ecstasy, cocaine, and a vial that initially appeared to contain three milligrams of fentanyl, EPE reported.
However, police are still waiting on lab results to confirm suspicions. Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic drug used medically to treat severe pain.
It’s 50 times more powerful than heroin and 100 times more powerful than morphine, and has become one of the protagonists in what’s been dubbed “the opioid crisis” in North America.
In 2023, drug overdose deaths in the US hit a staggering 112,000.
The effects of fentanyl are visible in nearly every major US city, with its users identifiable through their lethargic movements and zombie-like appearance.
As of now, fentanyl — whose medical use is heavily restricted and recreational use is incredibly rare in Spain — has yet to be detected in the streets of Madrid.
Should the vial test positive for fentanyl, it would mark the first time the drug has been found in the capital.
Still, police sources told EFE that even if the vial is found to contain the substance there would be no cause for alarm, as the quantity is insignificant.
“We are going to wait to see what the investigation concludes,” the vice mayor told reporters during the Thursday press conference.
The drugs were discovered in a makeshift drug laboratory in the south Madrid neighbourhood of Villaverde, in a bust that ended in the arrests of four Colombian nationals — three men and one woman.
Police also found evidence that the flat was being used to manufacture “tusi,” also known as “pink cocaine.”
Tusi — typically a combination of MDMA and ketamine — is known for its high market price and rosy colour, and is often cut with other substances.
Police were led to the drug flat after intercepting a dealer selling the substance who lives and works in Getafe, EPE reported.
They lack sufficient evidence to draw conclusions, but police have suspected that the Villaverde lab may have been the source of the drugs that killed a 14-year-old boy in Getafe in February.
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