Carfentanil Resurgence Fuels US Overdose Deaths

Michael Nalewaja, a 36-year-old electrician who had overcome teenage drug addiction to build a stable life in Alaska, died days before Thanksgiving 2025 after unknowingly ingesting a lethal mix of fentanyl and carfentanil that he and a friend may have mistaken for cocaine.

Nalewaja's mother, Kelley Nalewaja, learned of his death from his wife during a phone call that shattered her. "I heard the word autopsy and I literally just collapsed to the floor," she recalled. Even with immediate intervention, such as Narcan or a 911 call, survival would have been unlikely, she said, due to the drugs' extreme potency.

Carfentanil, an opioid 10,000 times more powerful than morphine and 100 times stronger than fentanyl, has surged in the U.S. drug supply, contributing to hundreds of overdose deaths among users unaware of its presence. Authorities attribute the increase to China's recent restrictions on fentanyl precursors, which have prompted Mexican traffickers to enhance weakened fentanyl supplies with carfentanil, according to U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration intelligence.

The DEA identified carfentanil in 1,400 drug seizures across the U.S. in 2025, a sharp rise from 145 in 2023 and...