Fresh warning over street drug so strong a dose the size of a grain of sand can kill you

A warning has been issued about a super-strength street drug after four of the six deaths at a prison in the space of a month are believed to be linked to the powerful opioid.

South Wales Police said the drug Nitazene, which can be many times stronger than heroin, had been connected to four of the prisoners who had all died at HMP Parc in Bridgend, South Wales.

Two of the deaths are being treated as non-suspicious, while the other four are believed to be drug related.

Potent synthetic opioids known as nitazenes – some of which are 500 times stronger than morphine – have been detected in at least 20 postcodes around the UK since September, in a worrying surge in availability, The Independent revealed last year.

The drugs – so dangerous that a dose the size of a grain of sand can kill – have contaminated heroin supplies since 2019 but are increasingly found in counterfeit prescription anxiety medication sold on the dark web and at online pharmacies.

Detective Inspector Steve Jones, of South Wales Police, said: “At this stage we cannot confirm that the four deaths are connected to any specific drug however a fast-track process has been undertaken and identified the presence of Nitazene based substances in connection with all four deaths.

“Spice has been identified in two of the four deaths.

“Post-mortem examinations have been completed on two of the four men and at this stage cause of death is inconclusive and we are awaiting toxicology.

“The other two men are awaiting a post-mortem examination.”

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A multi-agency investigation involving the prison, prison operator G4S, the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman and Public Health Wales has been launched.

Ombudsman Adrian Usher has already urged inmates at the prison to dispose of any drugs.

John Rose and Jason Hussey both died at the privately run category B jail in Bridgend on February 27, while Christopher Stokes died on March 9, according to the watchdog’s record of ongoing fatal incident investigations.

The three other people who have died at the prison have not yet been named.

These are among 20 deaths which the organisation has been notified of, and begun investigating, since January 2022.

On Wednesday, G4S – the security firm which runs the prison – said their thoughts were with the families and friends of the prisoners who had died at HMP Parc.

The prison was previously at the centre of a scandal after a nurse who worked there was jailed in 2022 for having a relationship with an inmate.

That same year, the chief inspector of prisons Charlie Taylor warned in a report of “high” rates of violence at the jail – one of the largest in England and Wales, holding around 1,700 men – and said the rate of self-harm remained higher than at comparable sites.

The Home Office announced in November it was cracking down on synthetic opioids, with 15 new drugs. including 14 nitazene compounds, set to become class As in the New Year, but there are concerns it will do little to stop it flooding the illegal drugs market.