KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Medical examiners in East Tennessee have identified some rare, new forms of opioids while examining overdose victims in a trend the Knoxville Police Department partially attributes to a large number of drug users in the area.
In a hunt for a stronger high, drug dealers sling new types of fentanyl — drugs with slightly different chemical makeups and deadly consequences. In 2021, more than 450 people in Knox County died of an overdose, the district attorney's office said.
At the Regional Forensic Center, autopsies show 64 deaths involving para-flourofentanyl, also known as "White China," according to officials. A January CDC report named Knoxville while warning of increased distribution of the drug.
In dozens of other deaths, coroners found rare types of opioids named in early warning alerts from forensic researchers.
"That puts us on alert. There’s some kind of new drug in the community and we want to try to see if we can nail down exactly where that’s coming from," said Knoxville Police Sgt. Phil Major.
He said once the drugs get injected into the supply, they flow through major arteries like I-75 to the needles of users in East Tennessee.
With so many users in the area, new drugs can seem like they appear in this region before anywhere else, Major said. He also said the forensic examiners may pay closer attention to drug deaths here as part of a multi-agency task force — and thus may detect more, new fentanyl analogues.
"Now that we see more analogues and more powerful opiates come on the scene, the deaths seem to increase also," Major said.
But like a fingerprint at a crime scene, the relatively rare chemical makeup of the drugs can also help investigators track down where they came from.
"Our goal is to try to go back to that person who provided the drugs that led to that individual's death," Major said.
He said KPD has not yet been successful in following an investigation from the rare drug back to the dealer, but it continues to try alongside area law enforcement partners.