New mystery drug 'pink cocaine' isn't what you might think
NEW YORK (WABC) -- There's a new mystery drug that's hitting the club scene in New York City and the ease of how it's pouring into the area may surprise you.
It's called pink cocaine.
While its bright color from food coloring stays the same, what's inside can change from day to day and from dealer to dealer.
"You have no idea what you're taking," said NYC Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget Brennan. "I've never seen the drug supply as lethal as the one we're in today."
In cases the Special Narcotics Prosecutor and DEA have seen, when its lab tested, it actually has very little to no cocaine in it at all. Instead they're finding cheaper manmade drugs from ketamine to ecstasy. It can be a dangerous and even deadly mixture of uppers and downers.
"When you see that mixture of your body being pulled in two directions, being amped up with a methamphetamine or cocaine and being sedated with something like ketamine, that's a recipe for a terrible, terrible effect on the body," said Brennan.
The Special Agent in Charge of the DEA in New York said in some cases the deadliest of drugs, fentanyl, is also getting mixed in, where even a tiny amount can be lethal.
"They're mixing fentanyl in because they want to increase addiction, they want to increase their customer base they want more people to come back and buy their drug and it's something every parent should be concerned about," said Frank Tarentino, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration's New York Division.
The drugs aren't being sold in shady places or dark street corners as you might imagine. Prosecutors busted a New York City woman this summer for allegedly selling pink cocaine, and other drugs, over a messaging app on her cell phone. She's accused of then shipping the drugs through the mail to customers. She has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
"You have this criminal underworld that has weaponized social media to push their poison to the far corners of the United States and across the world," said Tarentino.
According to law enforcement sources, with the use of technology and social media, the mystery mixtures are easier to get than ever before and there are more drug overdose deaths reported than ever before. They say there's no longer any such thing as safe experimentation, no matter how colorful the drug might be.
Pink cocaine also goes by the name Tusi.
Prosecutors say it's a drug that's difficult to track but was first spotted in the New York City area in January of 2023.
ALSO READ | '2 Milligrams: Fatal Dose': The crisis of fentanyl, America's hidden killer
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