He thought he was getting five pills of one of his usual opioid drugs of choice, Percocet or oxycodone, from his usual drug dealer, Benjamin Anthony Collins, 21, of Santa Clarita—also known in his drug business and online as “BenzThaKidd.”
Instead, Jacquet got pills laced with one of the latest nightmare drugs to hit America’s streets, protonitazene, a synthetic opioid believed to be three times stronger than fentanyl which, in turn, is considered to be 50 times stronger than heroin and is the leading cause of death among drug users in America today.
“This is believed to be the nation’s first death-related criminal case involving this narcotic.”
In other words, if fentanyl is big trouble, protonitazene is a flat-out monster, and its effects are only just beginning to be felt. (You will be hearing more about it, and none of it will be good.)
Protonitazene is a lethal drug, a murderous drug, and many purchasers of illegal drugs may not realize they’re even buying it. It could be the last mistake they ever make.
Jacquet, for example, died in April shortly after taking the pills in the front seat of his car, where his mother later found him.
Fentanyl has been blamed for over 70,000 deaths per year among American drug users. So far, protonitazene has killed dozens of people in the US and the UK. But it’s just getting started.
In a major legal “first,” BenzThaKidd has now been arrested and charged with one count of distribution of protonitazene resulting in death. If convicted, Collins is looking at a minimum 20-year sentence, and a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. His trial has been set for January 14.
“This is believed to be the nation’s first death-related criminal case involving this narcotic,” Ciaran McEvoy, public information officer for the US Attorney’s Office, said, referring to protonitazene.
If you’re wondering where protonitazene comes from, here’s your answer: “Protonitazene is offered for sale on numerous internet sites that do not appear to be reputable pharmaceutical retailers,” the World Health Organization states. “Some are reported to be based in China and openly advertise sale of protonitazene to other countries.”
The October 2022 arrest of Florida man Jacob Spinoza—in possession of nine pounds of protonitazene along with other drugs—resulted in him admitting he ordered the drug from Chinese sources through the “dark web.” Spinoza was sentenced to nine years in prison.
In texts between Collins and Jacquet before their fatal drug deal, Jacquet texted, “I need real Perc’s tho…. Cuz my boy just died…. I get worried.”
Protonitazene may falsely be sold as ketamine, or the less lethal opioid drugs Percocet or oxycodone.
Collins responded by saying, “Yeah bro same with my best friend bro. He just died 3 days ago. Off fake pills. Those fake Perc’s get you… I test all my [expletive] … negative every time.”
Of course, he was lying, but Jacquet apparently believed him. (Hey, if you can’t trust your drug dealer, who can you trust?)
“A review of the decedent’s Instagram messages revealed that defendant Collins, using the Instagram username ‘BenzThaKidd,’ sold the decedent ‘10 mg Pink K-56 pills’ (i.e., oxycodone) just hours before his death,” according to the federal detention memo. “Collins gave the decedent a deal of five pills for $20 each.”
Text messages showed that Collins planned to later sell Jacquet 50 to 100 pills, police said. Obviously, that deal never went down.
But Jacquet’s death didn’t seem to bother Collins very much. He still kept right on dealing drugs, without batting an eye.
Protonitazene may falsely be sold as ketamine, or the less lethal opioid drugs Percocet or oxycodone, but ingesting protonitazene at the same dose level as these other substances can result in a rapid loss of consciousness and respiratory depression, leading to hypoxia and death.
With the step up in lethality that this drug presents, it’s crucial—indeed, critical—that we step up our dedication to defeat it if we wish to survive.
We need to fight.
Protonitazene is “on our streets,” Bill Bodner, the former head of the DEA’s Los Angeles office, said. “There are several drugs that you’ll hear of, unfortunately, over the next six months and next two years, that will have ‘nitazene’ at the end of them.”
Let’s make sure those drugs aren’t the “end” of any more of us. One is enough.
