Two young Texas men have died within three months of each other after consuming counterfeit pills laced with nitazenes, a little-known synthetic opioid that proves up to 43 times more lethal than fentanyl. Now, their devastated mothers are demanding urgent action from US officials to raise awareness about this emerging threat that increasingly resists overdose reversal treatments.

Lucci Reyes-McCallister, 22, died on 26 January near Houston after taking what he believed was Xanax. However, the pill actually contained N-pyrrolidino protonitazene, an emerging form of the nitazene synthetic opioid. His friend Hunter Clement, 21, followed on 10 April after ingesting a counterfeit Percocet similarly laced with the deadly substance.

Understanding the Lethal Potency of Nitazenes

The particular strain that killed Lucci carries 25 times more potency than fentanyl, yet other nitazenes range between five and 43 times stronger, depending on the type, according to the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission. Moreover, the stronger the strain, the more it resists Narcan, the standard overdose antidote, as tragically demonstrated in Lucci’s case.

“It was the first time I’d ever heard of it,” Grey McCallister, Lucci’s heartbroken mother, told reporters about the nitazene synthetic opioid. She believes her son had previously encountered nitazenes during an earlier overdose episode in the autumn. “It took them seven rounds of Narcan to try to revive him,” she recalled.

Indeed, when Ruthi Clement found her son Hunter that fateful night, his face lay down in his bed, his body cold and purple. She quickly administered chest compressions and two doses of Narcan, but tragically, it wasn’t enough to save him.

Chinese Labs Fuel the Crisis

Clandestine Chinese laboratories produce nitazenes, which may have reached Mexican cartels through “their existing relationships” with “suppliers” in China, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. Originally, scientists developed the drug over 60 years ago as a morphine alternative, but authorities never approved it for medical use because of its extraordinarily high overdose risk.

Furthermore, European authorities have already recorded several overdoses from this synthetic narcotic, and now the devastating poison increasingly hits US shores. Last January, a Florida man confessed to distributing protonitazene that he received through the mail from Chinese labs, according to the IRS.

Additionally, customs officers at Kennedy Airport now encounter the drug “at least a few times a week in quantities ranging from just a few grams to upwards of a pound or more,” Andrew Renna, assistant port director for cargo operations at the airport, revealed in May.

An Ongoing Attack on America

Former acting DEA administrator Derek Maltz describes this influx as part of China’s “ongoing attack against America.” He emphasises that whilst America only recently began seriously discussing fentanyl, numerous other substances now emerge everywhere, all originating from Chinese laboratories.

Consequently, medical examiners in Houston and the surrounding Harris County have already documented four cases of nitazene-related overdose deaths, according to the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences. However, this figure likely underrepresents the true scale of the problem.

The Detection Challenge

Traditional drug tests don’t screen for nitazenes since US authorities are only now learning of their existence, the two grieving mothers explained. Currently, the nitazene synthetic opioid doesn’t appear in the standard toxicology tests that Harris County medical examiners use, and officials only order these specialised screenings “if there is suspected nitazene use and there is no other toxicology to explain the death,” the office confirmed.

This gap in testing protocols means many nitazene deaths may go undetected, classified instead as standard opioid overdoses. Therefore, the actual number of victims could significantly exceed reported figures.

Mothers Turn Grief Into Advocacy

Nearly six months after Lucci’s death, Grey received a call from another local mother who revealed her son had also died from the same form of nitazene. It was Lucci’s friend, Hunter. A few weeks after Hunter’s death, Ruthi Clement came across a news article about nitazene dangers. “I told my husband, ‘I feel like that could be what Hunter died from,'” she recalled.

“Sometimes I get mad because I couldn’t save my own son, but I do want to save other people, even if it’s just one person in honour of him,” Ruthi told reporters, fighting through tears.

Both mothers now warn America’s youth about the devastating risks. “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,” Grey explained.

“It just really lit a fire under me. There was no way Lucci was going to die in vain,” she added with determination.

The Urgent Need for Education

Maltz urged federal authorities to implement educational programmes and social media awareness campaigns to reach young people on platforms “where they are.” He stressed the critical importance of mandatory education about these dangers.

“You have to educate these kids, you have to have mandatory education. The social media influencers, the athletes, the role models to speak out on social media sites with these video reels to educate the kids. That’s where they are, they’re not watching the news,” Maltz emphasised.

As nitazene-related EMS encounters surged from approximately 5,750 in 2023 to nearly 9,700 in 2024, according to the National Drug Early Warning System, the need for widespread awareness becomes increasingly urgent. Whilst numbers show a slight decline in 2025 to around 9,200 encounters, the threat remains severe and demands immediate attention from health officials, educators, and parents alike.

The tragedy of Lucci and Hunter serves as a stark reminder that behind every statistic lies a real person, a family forever changed, and a community that must unite to prevent further loss.

Source: NY Post