‘Zombie Drug’ Invades NYC With One Official Calling the Situation ‘Most Dangerous I’ve Ever Seen’

An animal tranquilizer being cut into other drugs and smuggled across the US-Mexico border is responsible for creating the “most dangerous” drug supply in New York City, an expert recently told the New York Post. 

Bridget Brennan, New York City special narcotics prosecutor, told the outlet the animal sedative, xylazine or “tranq,” infiltrated drug mills in the city and is being cut into fentanyl, heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine.

She explained that "drug mills" are apartments in “medium-sized buildings in nondescript areas” or “places that wouldn’t draw attention.”

“Overall, our black-market drug supply in the city is probably the most dangerous that I’ve ever seen,” Brennan said. “People who believe they’re buying one drug may well get another drug that they have no tolerance for whatsoever. Xylazine is certainly a part of that sad story.”

The drug can be lethal and typically causes slow breathing and reduced heart rates, in addition to miosis, coma, hyperglycemia and necrotic tissue.

Drug overdose deaths, attributed to the flesh-eating "Zombie drug," have been on the rise. In 2021, there were 35 times more drug overdose deaths involving xylazine with 3,468 deaths recorded due to the drug, according to the CDC.

Brennan said xylazine factors into between 10 to 20% of all overdose deaths in New York City and is pushing Congress to pass the Combatting Illicit Xylazine Act to control xylazine. The drug isn’t only mixed as a powder into hard drugs, but can be pressed into pills to be sold over the internet, Brennan told the Post.

“They might be sold as Xanax, or Adderall or Oxycodone,” Brennan said. “And those are just as deadly as the powders.”

Xylazine is readily available over the internet and does not require a veterinary license to purchase, according to a Drug Enforcement Administration report on the substance.

The availability of it, combined with its low price from Chinese suppliers, can increase the profits for drug suppliers who cut their drugs with it.

It is reported to have psychoactive effects and longer-lasting than fentanyl but with the same effects as opioids, the report stated. 

The Bronx has been hit hardest by the influx of the drug, Brennan said.

Eight of 10 city precincts with the highest level of fatal overdoses are in The Bronx. Part of the drug’s deadly impact stems from its inability to be reversed using naloxone, typically used to reverse opioid overdoses.