CDC Reports Drop in Overdoses, DEA Warns America is Not Ready For New Narcan-Resistant Opioid Threat

A top Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) official is warning that the United States is unprepared for the spread of a new synthetic opioid from China that is significantly stronger than fentanyl and resistant to Narcan treatment, as reported by The New York Post.

Jonathan C. Pullen, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA’s Houston Division, said the emerging threat comes from nitazenes, a class of synthetic narcotics up to 43 times more potent than fentanyl depending on the chemical formula.

The drug, often manufactured in China and trafficked with assistance from Mexican cartels, has already contributed to multiple deaths in the U.S.

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“I do think we are behind the curve. But that’s been the case with these synthetic opioids — that they shift,” Pullen told the New York Post. He explained that when regulators move to restrict precursor chemicals, manufacturers change the formula to bypass enforcement.

“If we get into a place where then we are able to issue controls or China issues more controls on the precursor chemicals that go to these, they’ll just change the analog and it’ll go to another precursor chemical. China’s already done that,” he said.

The Trump administration imposed sanctions and tariffs on China and Mexico to pressure those governments to address illicit drug production.

Officials have also credited the administration’s border security measures with reducing the flow of fentanyl into the U.S. Still, traffickers are adapting by introducing nitazenes, which experts say are difficult to detect because they are not part of routine drug tests or toxicology screenings.

EXCLUSIVE: The US is “behind the curve” on fighting a deadly new synthetic narcotic that’s dramatically more lethal than fentanyl and resistant to Narcan, a top DEA agent warns.

Just as authorities in the US and China increase efforts to tackle the scourge of fentanyl, the drug… pic.twitter.com/YIoisF0J0W

— Jennie Taer ️ (@JennieSTaer) August 28, 2025

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 80,000 overdose deaths in 2024, a decline from an estimated 110,000 in 2023. Wider distribution of Narcan has played a role in reducing fatalities, but Pullen warned that nitazenes are resistant to the antidote.

“It’s incredibly deadly and normal treatment methods like naloxone … don’t work as well on nitazenes because it’s so much stronger,” he said.

“It’s really hard to overcome if you’ve taken one.”

In the Houston area, the DEA reported 15 deaths and 11 seizures tied to nitazenes between November and February.

Two victims, identified as 22-year-old Lucci Reyes-McCallister and 21-year-old Hunter Clement, died after ingesting counterfeit Xanax and Percocet pills that contained N-pyrrolidino protonitazene, a compound 25 times stronger than fentanyl.

“They could think something is clean or rather safe when it’s actually pressed for something that’s 20 to 40 times stronger, more deadly than fentanyl,” Reyes-McCallister’s mother Grey said. “There was no way Lucci was going to die in vain.”

The synthetic opioid, first developed in the 1960s as a possible alternative to morphine, was banned from medical use due to its overdose risk. Authorities in Europe have already reported several overdoses, and the drug was first detected in the U.S. in 2019.

Federal officials say nitazenes are now being seized regularly.

Customs officers at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport reported in May that shipments are arriving “at least a few times a week in quantities ranging from just a few grams to upwards of a pound or more,” according to Andrew Renna, assistant port director for cargo operations.

The DEA has pledged to step up border enforcement and monitoring of shipments as U.S. authorities work to contain the new threat.

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