Overview
- Police arrested four people and recovered over 20,000 suspected counterfeit pills during raids carried out on Sept. 8 and 9, authorities said.
- The probe began after the city medical examiner identified cyclorphine in the April death of 16-year-old Dante Lacourte, marking San Francisco’s first confirmed case involving the drug.
- Cyclorphine is reported to be roughly ten times more potent than fentanyl, can appear in pills that mimic prescription drugs, and is hard to detect with standard fentanyl test strips.
- The DEA issued a temporary Schedule I order in August, but officials say California law has not yet fully listed cyclorphine and forensic testing is still needed to confirm which seized pills contain the compound.
- The compound family dates to published 1960s Belgian research, has been detected in multiple states since 2024, has been linked to dozens of deaths since 2025, and officials and families are calling for faster testing, public warnings, and state-level legal changes.