Summary and Notable Findings:
- 669 samples were tested from October 1 to December 31, 2025.
- Quantitative results for opioid samples are included in this report for the measured amounts of fentanyl, medetomidine, and combined local anesthetics (lidocaine, procaine, and tetracaine); the former two of which were shown to increase over time.
- Fentanyl adulteration shifts continued: alpha-2 agonists were common, in favor of medetomidine, and local anesthetics (e.g. lidocaine, procaine, tetracaine) maintained their prevalence.
- The novel opioid 5,6-Dichloro Desmethylchlorphine (SR-17018) was detected once in Q4 2025, but others have yet to emerge in this region. Nitazene analogues were not detected by GC-MS this quarter and fentanyl analogues (e.g., carfentanil) were detected less frequently than in previous quarters.
- BTMPS observations continued to decrease as this substance was detected in 16 of 368 tested fentanyl samples and 5 of 34 heroin samples. Surprisingly, hybrid BTMPS-tetramethylfentanyl intermediaries, tetramethyl-4-AP and tetramethylnorfentanyl, were detected in 6 of 34 heroin samples, in which fentanyl was only a very minor component or not detected at all.
