A teenager from Grain Valley City, in the Kansas City metropolitan area, has recently been admitted to a hospital because of an overdose of a drug named carfentanil. The teenager unsuspectingly overdosed on the drug, which he thought was the regular oxycodone that he is used to taking.

Fortunately, he was found alive but unconscious by emergency services who also gave him treatment for the overdose. He had no memory of the events following the drug intake except for finding himself in an ambulance and then passing out again.

Carfentanil or carfentanyl, an analgesic opioid analog synthetic of fentanyl, is grouped under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act due to its high sedating effect and the danger it poses when used by humans. It is therefore only legally used for tranquilizing large animals like elephants or horses.

Cases of its illegal trade and abuse by people have, however, risen despite its fatal effects. The drug is superior to other opioids as it is 100 times more potent than fentanyl, 5,000 times more potent than heroin and 10,000 times more potent than morphine with all units kept constant.

This has led to it being dubbed a ‘crazy dangerous’ drug by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The drug has been traced back to Gage S. Lankas, a resident of Kansas City, who, according to investigations, deals drugs that he purchases from dark web marketplaces.

The federal agents have since arrested Lankas and charged him with possession of carfentanil and the intent to distribute the drug. Further investigations are being carried out to find any accomplices he might have and any other parties involved in the illicit trade.

He has been on follow up investigations by DEA authorities since August of 2017 when another teenager also suffered a carfentanil drug overdose. On the day of his arrest, the police had been to his house to investigate a domestic distress case between him and his girlfriend when they found evidence suggesting he was a culprit behind the trade of the controlled drug.

Pills similar to the ones consumed by the Grain Valley teenager and a hefty sum of $6,583 found in a safe were seized. Further tests proved that the drug was indeed carfentanil thus incriminating him.

The teenager also identified Lankas from a photo as the person who sold him the drugs in Westport claiming that they were oxycodone. He also confessed in the U.S District Court in Kansas City to the ownership of the drugs and to trading them for money.

A 20-year prison penalty may be the fate of Gage S. Lankas once a court ruling has been made. Meanwhile, he remains in custody as further investigations on the case are carried out.

According to William J. Callahan III, a special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration office in St. Louis, the drugs are fatal and have no proven benefits to humans. He further stated that the drug is often distributed disguised as oxycodone and is therefore very dangerous as people take the drug unaware of its deadly effects.

These effects of the drug include calmness, sedation, drowsiness, runny nose, insomnia, anxiety, depression, excessive sweating, restlessness, inability to concentrate, and, the most common side effect, death. When sold without a disguise, it often comes with various street names including China Girl, China White, Gray Death, Serial Killer, and TNT.

The drug may also be sold not as a pure form but mixed with other opioid analgesics such as fentanyl, a mixture commonly known for causing gray death. Opioid drugs all cause a calming effect and eventual addiction when used chronically.

In the United States, the current government has been baffled by the catastrophic effect the opioid drugs have on the young generation. The president issued an order to mitigate any use and the entry of the drugs into the country, therefore leaving the drug users to acquire them through postal services from the dark web marketplaces.

China has been at fault for delivering the killer drugs which are said to be manufactured and pressed for the international market. The collaboration between the United States and the Chinese government in the fight against opioid usage will see more dark net vendors arrested while more traffickers are brought to book as a lesson to many out there.