Dangerous street drug
“Deadly”: US authorities warn World Cup fans
May 9, 2026 – 8:28 a.mReading time: 2 minutes
The US Drug Enforcement Agency is sounding the alarm ahead of the World Cup: Almost all drugs confiscated contain fentanyl – many of them a lethal dose. A specific antidote is recommended.
Ahead of the World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico, the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) issued an urgent warning to fans against taking recreational drugs. The reason: fentanyl. Anyone who buys or takes drugs in the United States puts themselves at significant risk of fatal doses of the synthetic opioid. However, there is no evidence that dealers are specifically targeting World Cup fans.
DEA representative Frank Tarentino told the AFP news agency during a visit to a DEA laboratory in New York: “We want to make sure that they (the fans, editor’s note) are aware that the drugs that are sold on the streets and online are deadly.” Tarentino also emphasized: “Almost all of the drugs we confiscate today contain fentanyl.”
The background is the continued high number of overdoses. According to authorities, 29 percent of the tablets examined nationwide contain a lethal dose of around two milligrams.
The scale of the problem is primarily shown by the death rates: 108,000 people died from drugs in the USA in 2022 – a record high. Synthetic opioids accounted for 73,000 deaths. According to US health authorities, the total number fell to 80,000 in 2024, of which 48,000 were due to synthetic opioids – still the most common cause of overdoses.
Tarentino recommended the nasal spray naloxone (Narcan) as an antidote. It is available in pharmacies and can quickly reverse the effects of an opioid overdose, according to the DEA official. “Because if someone is in an overdose state on the street, anyone passing by can help that overdosed person with naloxone,” Tarentino said. He again dismissed fentanyl test strips as unreliable – they could give a “false sense of security”.
The World Cup begins on June 11th and ends on July 19th.
