Public radio’s longest-running daily global news program.AboutContactDonateMeet the TeamPrivacyTerms of use©2026 The World from PRXPRX is a 501(c)(3) organization recognized by the IRS: #263347402.Chinese suppliers are advertising nitazenes — more potent than fentanyl — onlineFor years, fentanyl has dominated the opioid crisis in the US — but there’s an up-and-coming class of synthetic opioids emerging called nitazenes, drugs that can be 40 times more potent than fentanyl and far more difficult to track. Now, the investigative group Bellingcat has found nitazenes spreading across the US, and it has discovered links between Chinese suppliers and growing markets in Europe. The World’s Host Carolyn Beeler learns more from Jonathan Moens, the journalist behind the reporting. HealthJune 25, 2026Updated: June 25, 20265:55Nitazenes can come in different forms.For years, fentanyl has dominated the opioid crisis in the US, but there’s a new, even more powerful class of opioids emerging. They’re called nitazenes.Even trace amounts can cause overdose deaths. A report published by the open-source investigative group Bellingcat found nitazenes spreading across the United States. They have also traced the supply back to China. The journalist behind that Bellingcat investigation was Jonathan Moens, who spoke to The World and explained why this drug is so concerning.According to him, “Nitazenes can be up to 40 times stronger than fentanyl. So, the worry is mainly that they have an incredible potency and also that they can be laced into other kinds of drugs that are more common, like cocaine, methamphetamine and/or other drugs. Often, users won’t know what they’re taking, and that can lead to death.”Nitazenes seen in different forms. Courtesy of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).All the experts I’ve spoken to point to China as being the main culprit for manufacturing these drugs. It doesn’t mean the government in China is actually wanting this to happen, but it does seem that these drugs are being manufactured by makeshift labs in the country, in different provinces in particular.And the way they do this isn’t fully understood, but what we’ve been able to show is that there are thousands, if not tens of thousands, potentially, of adverts online of nitazine that are basically being placed on marketplaces that are either very well established, such as LinkedIn or X, as well as lesser-known ones like Indiamart, which is used in India, or Trademart and other B2B marketplaces.And you just order it online. And like I said earlier, because there’s such small quantities and because parcels can be shipped in ways that are quite anonymous, if you’re quite smart about it, they can quite easily go past customs in different countries. Customs are having a very difficult time trying to actually identify which packages to check and which not to.A Bellingcat investigation last year found more than 1,000 nitazenes advertisements populating online marketplaces, forums and the dark web. Courtesy of BellingcatNo, it’s totally illegal. The problem is just the lack of regulations around. I mean, these marketplaces find it hard to track all of this. People post all the time, and all these people who are posting, they sort of hide behind fake emails, fake websites, fake domains. So, it’s very hard to actually identify who these people are, and they can just sort of come up and create new accounts if they’re deleted. So, it’s about the fact that it’s sort of a Wild West scenario in these marketplaces, especially the ones that are lesser known.Nitazenes, such as this listing for etonitazene, which is up to 500 times stronger than heroin, are openly advertised online. Courtesy of BellingcatThat’s a very good question. I think it comes down to the development of these makeshift labs that have learned how to do very sophisticated things and make a lot of money by hiding behind websites, emails. Even if China cracks down on these drugs, which it has, on the one hand, it sometimes crack down by trying to focus on one drug at a time, which is not the most effective way. But even when it tries to do more of a sort of sweeping attack on nitazenes, these makeshift labs, these individuals, these networks in China have just learned how to be very dexterous and work around it. So, it’s not so much about the government, in my opinion. It’s much more about how easy it is to ship these drugs and how sophisticated these networks can be.Parts of this interview have been lightly edited for length and clarity.