DEA warns of dangers of new drug hitting Chicago streets

CHICAGO (WLS) -- An alert has now been issued about a dangerous and deadly new drug hitting Chicago streets.

It's called cychlorphine, and it is a synthetic opioid described as 10 times more potent than fentanyl. It's now showing up in the Illinois illicit drug supply.

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The I-Team has learned it's already been attributed to at least one death, a man from Will County, who died in Chicago.

Cychlorphine joins a vicious and deadly carousel of drugs cycling in and out of the Chicago area.

In an exclusive interview, Todd Smith, the special agent in charge of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Chicago Field Division, said the unpredictable and lethal emerging drug is so new, it's nearly impossible to test for on the street.

"It's extremely concerning because we've made progress. There's been a significant reduction in overdose deaths and poisonings throughout the Chicagoland area. And it's concerning that we're seeing this new substance entering the illicit drug supply," he said.

Cychlorphine's potency makes any encounter with it potentially catastrophic.

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"The real danger is they could be a routine drug user, and all of a sudden, this this more potent synthetic opioid is introduced to their system and could put them into an overdose or a poisoning," Smith explained.

So far cychlorphine has been identified three times in Illinois. But it's emerging throughout the country, according to the Center for Forensic Science Research and Education, with multiple cases now noted in California, Texas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio and the east coast.

"This one scares me," said Laura Fry, the executive director of the substance use harm reduction organization Live4LALI. She said testing street drugs for cychlorphine is a challenge, if not impossible.

"We have test strips for fentanyl, xylazine, benzodiazepines, medetomidine; they have not developed a test strip for this yet," said Fry.

She met Wednesday with the Lake County Opioid Initiative, where the team talked about steps needed to identify cychlorphine in overdose deaths. Fry and SAC Smith emphasized that the cartel's chemists are working to introduce new drugs into the supply as progress is made to reduce fentanyl potency and precursors coming to Mexico from China.

"The cartels are all about making money and capitalizing on peoples' sickness," said Fry.

"Cartel chemists are constantly adapting to look for drugs that are stronger, more potent and drive addiction," Smith said.