Bulgaria: Fentanyl has Claimed the Lives of 10 People in Just One Week in Varna
In just one week, 10 people died in Varna after using heroin, to which the hundred times more powerful synthetic fentanyl was added. The data is unofficial and was reported to Bulgarian media "Dnevnik" by two independent addiction treatment centers - "Just today" and "Change is life". Last week, two women were also arrested in the city, distributing an even stronger and more deadly analogue of fentanyl - α-Methylfentanyl.
The information about the ten deaths in the past week in Varna was neither confirmed nor denied by the regional police directorate in the city. Answers to questions sent to "Dnevnik" on Monday (July 17) revealed only that there have been reports of the appearance of fentanyl on the drug market in Varna since about two months ago and that the police do not have data on the number of overdose deaths.
The death of so many people in such a short time in Varna already speaks of a problem, claims Pavel Pavlov, manager of the "Just Today" center. According to him, it is a wave that has yet to be contained.
According to Sirma Georgieva, a psychotherapist in the field of addictions, heroin addicts live for about 20-30 years during which they use drugs. They know well the reactions of their body, they know how to maintain their condition so that they can work and fulfill their daily commitments. But the admixture of fentanyl in heroin makes taking the "cocktail" a game of Russian roulette.
On Monday (July 17), the Court of Appeal in Varna announced that they had confirmed the two women caught selling drugs at the end of last week remain in custody. They were caught immediately after a drug deal in the area of one of the city's major schools. About 200 grams of heroin and 1000 ml of methadone were found and seized from the residences of the two women.