Overview
- City investigators traced cychlorphine to the April death of a 16-year-old and used evidence from the victim’s phone and pills to carry out undercover buys that led to arrests.
- Police arrested four people and recovered more than 20,000 counterfeit pills during operations on Sept. 8 and 9, and prosecutors have charged the suspects with narcotics and weapons counts.
- Officials said they have found cychlorphine in other recent pill seizures but have not identified who manufactured the drugs, which police described as cobbled together from chemicals.
- Public health leaders warned that standard fentanyl test strips and routine urine screens can miss cychlorphine and that reversing its effects may require more than one dose of naloxone.
- Federal alerts show detections in at least 10 states and at least 55 deaths linked to cychlorphine since 2025, a trend that could force changes in forensic testing, clinical care and drug-control measures.