Schumer Seeks DEA Help for Threat of Zombie Drug 'Tranq'

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., is calling on the federal Drug Enforcement Administration to send experts to the New York region to help with the rising threat of a potentially deadly veterinary sedative dubbed "tranq" that's showing up in street drugs.

The "zombie drug" xylazine has been found in drugs sold on the streets of New York City and Long Island, Schumer warned Sunday, PIX11 reported.

"Xylazine is dangerous, it's deadly, and it's here," he said at a news conference. "It's a deadly, skin-rotting zombie drug that evil drug dealers are now mixing with fentanyl, heroin, and other drugs."

The DEA has already issued a public safety alert about the threat of fentanyl mixed with xylazine, which places users at a higher risk of a deadly overdose, the news outlet reported.

The administration has claimed Mexican cartels get the drugs from China and then bring it into the United States.

Schumer is proposing a plan that would first ask for more federal dollars to help fund law enforcement, substance abuse treatment, and mental health services.

Then Schumer is urging the DEA to deploy a Diversion Control Team to the area including New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut that would be comprised of investigators, special agents, chemists, and others who can help stem the spread of xylazine, the news outlet reported.

"The diversion teams are to drugs like the Navy SEAL teams are to our national security," Schumer said. "They can swoop in on an area and deal with a drug problem."

Because xylazine is not an opioid, it doesn't respond to the overdose-reversal drug Narcan, posing a problem for medical professionals and first responders.

"We are still advising our medical communities to administer Narcan," Mike Varshavski, a family medical doctor and YouTube content creator, told PIX11.

"We do want to reverse the opioid effect of fentanyl, and when you come to one of these cases on the street who is unconscious and potentially consumed an illicit substance, we don't know which substance they have consumed."

• Dangerous Skin-Rotting Drug Spreading Across Country
• Widespread Deadly Drug Combo Prompts DEA Alert