TBI Finds Deadly Street Drug Cocktails 'That Don't Even Make Sense'

WPLN | By Blake Farmer,

Blake Farmer

Published December 4, 2017 at 5:54 PM CST

Forensic scientists at the TBI say they have perhaps never seen these drug combinations. One contained a combination of ketamine, tramadol, cocaine, heroin and fentanyl.

Forensic experts say they're alarmed by two drug combinations that recently showed up in the TBI crime lab. One is a mixture of fentanyl and methamphetamine. Another is cocaine, heroin and fentanyl.

"These are combinations of drugs that don’t even make sense, and they are combinations that are lethal," T.J. Jordan, assistant director of TBI’s Drug Investigation Division, said in a written statement. "With combinations of these extremely toxic drugs being mixed with each other, it’s a cocktail that has us very concerned."

More: How Drug Combos Are Making Tennessee's Opioid Problem More Deadly

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has issued warnings about highly potent fentanyl, which has appeared in heroin and even pills meant to resemble prescription opioids.

Overdose deaths reached their highest level in Tennessee last year and health officials blamed some of the uptick on toxic drug combinations. Law enforcement has even brought murder charges in the cases of some fatal overdoses.