Researchers Record Norway’s First Carfentanil Case

A researcher at the department of drug use at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health recently confirmed the first carfentanil seizure in Norway. In March, a 15-year-old died of an overdose on a substance that, at the time of the death, remained unknown. The 15-year-old died with a small vial labeled C-50 in his room. The police reported that the container only contained a few milligrams of an unknown powder.

Researchers at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and Oslo University Hospital spoke about the drug and the threat it posed to the public. The public, they said, knew very little of the substance’s relative potency in comparison to the strength of the more popular street drugs.

A physician from the emergency department of the Oslo University agreed that the public needed additional education about the opioids strength. “I think the problem is a lack of knowledge,” he told NRK. “When one is looking for drugs and wants to try something new or stronger, the danger comes from seeking new drugs without knowing how strong the new drug is.” A specialist in clinical pharmacology and senior consultant at the Oslo University Hospital said that carfentanil was the worst drug researchers had ever seen.

“This is an old substance, and was as far as I know, it was synthesized in the 70s, but this is the first time we have seen it in Norway,” a NIPH researcher said.

Law enforcement acknowledged that the drug was likely the result of a darknet transaction. I “There is reason to believe that fentanyl preparations in different variants are smuggled into Norway by mail,” the statement read. Since the start of the year, officials recorded four seizures of fentanyl, a seizure of acetyl fentanyl, a seizure of furanyl fentanyl, and now one of carfentanil.

Carfentanil caused overdoses in Eastern Europe, Latvia, Estonia and Russia, officials described in the report. But worst of all in the United States “where it was found interspersed in heroin.” A police spokesperson explained that “the new synthetic drugs often originate from Asia,” but middlemen in Europe often repack and redistribute throughout Europe.

While this is the first reported carfentanil case in Norway, it’s just a link in a growing chain of carfentanil overdoses worldwide. A 15-year-old is the youngest individual in a carfentanil case reported by DeepDotWeb. And we cover a significant number of the cases. However, carfentanil, contrary to common believe, is not only obtainable on the darknet marketplaces. Individuals can easily find the drug​, in bulk, on the clearnet for very little.