Opioid drug believed to have caused death of Cork youth

Gardaí in Cork are continuing to search for further quantities of a dangerous synthetic drug believed to be responsible for the death of a teenager in the city earlier this week.

Officers investigating the death of 16-year-old Michael Cornacchia believe he died after consuming a synthetic opioid named U-47700 after traces of a drug were found at his home in Cork. He was found unconscious by his mother at their home at Deermount in Deerpark, Cork at 10.30am on Monday and was later pronounced dead at the scene.

A Garda source said: “We believe there may be further quantities of this drug, which we believe to be U-47700, still in circulation here in Cork and that is a huge concern for us.

“We still don’t know how this drug came into the country and we are still several steps away from establishing at this point in the investigation just who brought it in and began supplying it.”

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Because U-47700 is manufactured primarily in China and Eastern Europe, gardaí believe it was purchased online by someone in Cork and shipped from abroad. They also believe the people buying it, and possibly some of their suppliers, are under the impression it may be cocaine or speed, rather than an opioid-based drug.

White powder

Gardaí arrested a 16-year old youth at his home in Gurranbraher on the north side of Cork on Tuesday and recovered a quantity of white powder which has been sent to the Forensic State Laboratory for analysis.

Detectives arrested the teenager on suspicion of possessing a controlled drug for sale or supply and brought him to the Bridewell Garda Station. He was questioned for four hours before being released without charge.

The HSE has issued a warning about U-47700 following the Cork death. “All drug users are advised that there is no guarantee that the drug you think you are buying and consuming is in fact the drug you are sold,” it said in a statement.

“We are aware that substances sold as cocaine may in fact contain other substances such as synthetic opioids. There is no way of telling what is in a powder or pill just by looking at it.

“It may look like the drug you want to purchase, but it may well be something else.There is no quality control on illegal drugs. There can be problems with purity and contaminants in all illegal drugs.”

Last November, the US Drug Enforcement Agency added U-47700 to its Schedule One list of drugs that have a high potential for abuse. Several US states, including Ohio, Florida, Georgia and Oregon, have moved to ban it. Developed in the 1970s, it was never produced commercially. However, the patent remained publicly available with detailed instructions on how to make it, leading drug labs in China and elsewhere to make and sell batches.