The Italian government recently held a press conference in Rome to raise the alarm about the intelligence reports.
Both the Camorra and the world’s most powerful crime syndicate, the Calabrian mafia ‘Ndranghetan, show an increased interest in taking Fentanyl on a broad front to Europe’s drug market.
The fentanyl deaths
Armed Rangers monitor
In the Milan suburb of Rogoredo, drug sales take place around the clock. Addicts and dealers from all over northern Italy come here to sell and buy drugs.
The forest behind the railway tracks is called the “drug forest” and is controlled by armed rangers. Only addicts and the police dare to go in there.
– It is always here in Rogoredo that you can first see the warning signals. The so-called zombie drugs are now here in Europe and will spread, says psychologist and volunteer Simone Feder to SVT’s team on site.
Large open wounds – risk amputation
In the past year, more and more of the addicts have received large open wounds that have led to tissue death and amputations. A man shows off his arm with crater-like scars. He risked amputation but the doctors managed to save his arm and hand.
– We must raise the warning flag for fentanyl. But also for the xylazine, tranq as it is called. It is actually a sedative that veterinarians use for large animals and the effects are terrible, says Simone Feder.
Europol says it has not seen an increased influx of Fentanyl in Europe as a whole. According to the EU’s drug agency, however, seizures of mixtures containing tranq have been made in the Baltics.
The doctor Riccardo Gatti, head of the Lombardy region’s addiction council, has long warned against Fentanyl and similar drugs. He wants to see coordinated action at EU level – immediately.
– It is Xylazine, tranq, that causes these ulcers. We will see more and more synthetic premixed drugs on the market. The consequences risk being enormous.
