Carfentanil, a more powerful cousin of fentanyl, was found in small quantities in eight samples of local opioids between March and June, including two cases in which the user overdosed, according to the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

Medetomidine was found in one Bronx sample in June.

“I am writing to inquire about the actions that the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has taken or will take to disrupt the supply chains that perpetuate the spread of carfentanil in America’s largest city,” Torres (D-NY) wrote to DEA administrator Anne Milgram.

“The spread of carfentanil, even in the barest quantities, would make the deadliest drug crisis far deadlier— by orders of magnitude,” Torres wrote.

“Given the growing presence of carfentanil in NYC and the profound threat it poses to both public safety and public health, I am seeking clarity about the DEA’s law enforcement efforts in relation to combating carfentanil supply chains.”

The composition of street drugs and the risk they pose to users has evolved significantly over time — sending US overdose deaths to an all-time high in 2022.

National and New York state fatalities dipped only slightly last year, according to preliminary data.

The evolving chemical composition of street drugs has created issues for detection and treatment.

New York City health officials warned in a recent alert that carfentanil, an extremely potent synthetic opioid, “was not detected via point-of-care drug-checking technologies” such as fentanyl test strips “due to the technologies’ limitations” and was instead found “through secondary laboratory testing.”

All eight of the samples also contained fentanyl, which can kill in doses as small as about 10 grains of table salt, the local officials said.

The city’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner says carfentanil was detected in at least seven cases of fatal drug overdoses between January and June 2024 — up from three known instances from 2023.

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Medetomidine, meanwhile, was found in late June in a sample that also contained fentanyl, the health officials said.

The presence of medetomidine is potentially troubling because its effects can be similar to opioids, but it cannot be treated with the opioid antidote naloxone.

Medetomidine “is similar to xylazine” — a veterinary painkiller and muscle relaxant commonly cut into street drugs since about 2020 — “but is more potent and causes longer-lasting effects,” city officials said.

Health officials recommend “rescue breathing” if apparent overdose victims do not respond to naloxone due to the possible effects of xylazine and medetomidine.

Xylazine is detected most commonly in the Northeastern US, according to federal data, with reports from 2022 showing particular prevalence in New Jersey, though not New York.