Xylazine: Powerful ‘zombie drug’ known as Tranq has ‘penetrated’ UK market, experts warn

Published

1 year ago

April 10, 2024

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A powerful animal tranquilliser plaguing cities in the US has now “penetrated” the illegal drugs market in the UK, a report has warned.

Xylazine – often referred to as “Tranq” or “the zombie drug” because of its effect on users – has already been labelled an “emerging threat to the nation” by the White House.

The drug was linked to a UK death for the first time during a post-mortem of Karl Warburton, found dead at his home in Solihull in May 2022.

In most cases, the tranquilliser is mixed or “cut” with strong opioids such as heroin or fentanyl by dealers aiming to lower their costs and increase demand.

Users often develop skin sores and infections where they inject and have previously told Sky News that the mix increases their addiction.

Last year, amid rising deaths attributed to xylazine, the White House announced a six-point plan to tackle the problem.

Researchers, led by academics from King’s College London, say the health threat has “now expanded to the United Kingdom”.

Their study, published in the journal Addiction, examined various toxicology, drug testing and drug seizure sources.

While usually mixed with illegal drugs, it found xylazine had been discovered in counterfeit prescription medication tablets, THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) vapes, and cocaine.

What is xylazine?

In the hands of vets, xylazine is a commonly used tranquilliser, often mixed with ketamine to sedate animals, including horses, cattle, and cats.

As a non-opioid sedative, it is able to inhibit the transmission of brain impulses to the central nervous system. But in recent years, it has become synonymous with a darker usage, as a cutting agent for illegal drugs such as heroin.

In the US, its mixture with fentanyl has had a widespread impact among drug users in American cities. Such is the concern in Washington about its spread, that Joe Biden’s administration has labelled it an emerging threat to the nation and outlined a six-point plan to tackle it.

There it has gained the nicknamed “tranq” or “the zombie drug” – because of its characteristic effect of putting users into a zombie-like state. But it has, perhaps, an even more grim side effect on users, who often develop skin sores and infections where the drug is injected.

Xylazine’s usage appears to be increasing at an alarming rate. From November 2021 until August 2022, 80% of drug paraphernalia which tested positive for fentanyl at needle exchange programmes in Maryland also contained xylazine.

And in May last year, the first death following its usage was recorded outside the US – Karl Warburton who died at his home in Solihull in May 2022.

Researchers found 35 cases of xylazine in England, Scotland and Wales by the end of August last year. No cases were found in Northern Ireland.

They published data on samples from toxicology labs, where the drug was found in 16 people – including 11 who had died.

Eleven of the samples were from summer last year.

They also referenced the death of Mr Warburton, who the coroner said had a history of using illegal drugs.

A post-mortem on the 43-year-old found he had heroin, fentanyl and cocaine in his system, as well as xylazine.

A report in the Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine said he was “likely to have bought heroin and not known it was laced with xylazine and fentanyl”.

Senior author Dr Caroline Copeland, from King’s College London, said: “We now know that xylazine has penetrated the UK’s illicit drug market.

“This is cause for alarm as a much wider population of people who use drugs beyond heroin users will be exposed to its harms.

“We also know that most people who buy heroin will not intend to buy xylazine and this combination increases the risk of overdose.

“Xylazine was designated an ’emerging threat’ to the United States and this public health threat is a growing concern for the UK.”

Dr Copeland urged the government to introduce “simple” measures to prevent an epidemic of xylazine, including testing strips and making healthcare providers aware of the signs of xylazine use.

She also said pathologists and coroners should request toxicology testing for xylazine in relevant cases to understand its true prevalence.

Despite the results of the study, Manchester-based MANDRAKE, England’s first publicly-funded city centre testing and harm reduction facility, said it hadn’t yet detected the substance in samples from 2022 to the start of 2024.

A government spokesperson said: “We are aware of the threat from xylazine and are determined to protect people from the threat posed by this drug and other illicit synthetic drugs.

“We will not hesitate to act to keep the public safe.

“Following advice from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), we intend to make xylazine a Class C drug, meaning anyone supplying this substance will face up to 14 years in prison, a fine or both.”

UK

Diogo Jota: Liverpool players join mourners as Premier League star and his brother Andre Silva buried in Portugal

Published

8 hours ago

July 5, 2025

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Diogo Jota: Liverpool players join mourners as Premier League star and his brother Andre Silva buried in Portugal

Liverpool players past and present have joined the family and friends of Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva for their funeral in Portugal.

A service was held in the Igreja Matriz de Gondomar church in their hometown of Gondomar near Porto in northern Portugal on Saturday morning.

Mourners lined the streets and some in the crowd clapped as the brothers’ coffins were carried into the church.

The funeral – in pictures

Jota, 28, leaves behind his wife of only 11 days, Rute Cardoso, and three young children.

His younger brother, 25, was an attacking midfielder for Penafiel in the second tier of Portuguese football.

Liverpool manager Arne Slot, captain Virgil Van Dijk and teammates including Andy Robertson, Conor Bradley, Ryan Gravenberch, Cody Gakpo, Curtis Jones, Darwin Nunez and Joe Gomez were seen at the service.

Former teammates Jordan Henderson, James Milner and Fabinho were also there.

Van Dijk carried a red wreath with Jota’s number 20, while Robertson had a wreath featuring number 30, Silva’s number at Penafiel.

Some of Jota’s teammates in the Portuguese national side also attended, including Bruno Fernandes, of Manchester United, Ruben Dias and Bernardo Silva, of Manchester City, Joao Felix and Renato Veiga, of Chelsea, Nelson Semedo, from Wolves, Joao Moutinho and Rui Patricio.

Ruben Neves was one of the pallbearers after flying in from Florida where he played for Al Hilal in the Club World Cup quarter-final on Friday night.

‘More than a friend’

In a post published on Instagram before the service, he told Jota he had been “more than a friend, we’re family, and we won’t stop being that way just because you’ve decided to sign a contract a little further away from us!”

Jota’s fellow Liverpool midfielder, Alexis Mac Allister, said on Instagram: “I can’t believe it. I’ll always remember your smiles, your anger, your intelligence, your camaraderie, and everything that made you a person. It hurts so much; we’ll miss you. Rest in peace, dear Diogo.”

Porto FC president Andre Villas-Boas and Portugal national team manager Roberto Martinez were also in attendance.

‘With us forever’

Speaking after the ceremony, Martinez said the period since their deaths had been “really, really sad days, as you can imagine, but today we showed we are a large, close family.

“Their spirit will be with us forever.”

The service was private, but the words spoken by the Bishop of Porto, Manuel Linda, were broadcast to those standing outside the church.

He told Jota’s children, who were not at the service, that he was praying for them specifically, as well as their mother and grandparents.

“There are no words, but there are feelings,” he said, adding: “We also suffer a lot and we are with you emotionally.”

The brothers died after a Lamborghini they were travelling in burst into flames following a suspected tyre blowout in the early hours of Thursday morning.

No other vehicles are said to have been involved in the incident.

Liverpool have delayed the return of their players for pre-season following Jota’s death and players past and present paid tribute to him and his brother on social media.

Flowers have been left outside Anfield, where flags have been lowered to half-mast and all club shops, museums and tours have been closed until Monday.

UK

Rachel Reeves hints at tax rises in autumn budget after welfare bill U-turn

Published

11 hours ago

July 5, 2025

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Rachel Reeves hints at tax rises in autumn budget after welfare bill U-turn

Rachel Reeves has hinted that taxes are likely to be raised this autumn after a major U-turn on the government’s controversial welfare bill.

Sir Keir Starmer’s Universal Credit and Personal Independent Payment Bill passed through the House of Commons on Tuesday after multiple concessions and threats of a major rebellion.

MPs ended up voting for only one part of the plan: a cut to universal credit (UC) sickness benefits for new claimants from £97 a week to £50 from 2026/7.

Initially aimed at saving £5.5bn, it now leaves the government with an estimated £5.5bn black hole – close to breaching Ms Reeves’s fiscal rules set out last year.

In an interview with The Guardian, the chancellor did not rule out tax rises later in the year, saying there were “costs” to watering down the welfare bill.

“I’m not going to [rule out tax rises], because it would be irresponsible for a chancellor to do that,” Ms Reeves told the outlet.

“We took the decisions last year to draw a line under unfunded commitments and economic mismanagement.

“So we’ll never have to do something like that again. But there are costs to what happened.”

Meanwhile, The Times reported that, ahead of the Commons vote on the welfare bill, Ms Reeves told cabinet ministers the decision to offer concessions would mean taxes would have to be raised.

The outlet reported that the chancellor said the tax rises would be smaller than those announced in the 2024 budget, but that she is expected to have to raise tens of billions more.

It comes after Ms Reeves said she was “totally” up to continuing as chancellor after appearing tearful at Prime Minister’s Questions.

Criticising Sir Keir for the U-turns on benefit reform during PMQs, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said the chancellor looked “absolutely miserable”, and questioned whether she would remain in post until the next election.

Sir Keir did not explicitly say that she would, and Ms Badenoch interjected to say: “How awful for the chancellor that he couldn’t confirm that she would stay in place.”

In her first comments after the incident, Ms Reeves said she was having a “tough day” before adding: “People saw I was upset, but that was yesterday.

“Today’s a new day and I’m just cracking on with the job.”

Sir Keir also told Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby on Thursday that he “didn’t appreciate” that Ms Reeves was crying in the Commons.

“In PMQs, it is bang, bang, bang,” he said. “That’s what it was yesterday.

“And therefore, I was probably the last to appreciate anything else going on in the chamber, and that’s just a straightforward human explanation, common sense explanation.”

UK

Diogo Jota and Andre Silva’s funeral in pictures

Published

13 hours ago

July 5, 2025

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Diogo Jota and Andre Silva's funeral in pictures

The family and friends of Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva have been joined by Liverpool stars past and present and other Portuguese players at the pair’s funeral near Porto.

The Liverpool forward, 28, and his brother died in a car crash in Spain on Thursday.

Pictures below show the funeral at the Igreja Matriz de Gondomar church in the town of Gondomar near Porto. Click here for our liveblog coverage of the day’s events.