COLUMBUS — Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has issued a warning as new data from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation reveals a significant rise in drug seizures involving carfentanil and other synthetic opioids in 2025.
Through the first three quarters of 2025, BCI forensic scientists have identified carfentanil in 199 items submitted for testing, indicating an increase from 2023 and 2024.
“The amateur chemists who create these deadly drug combinations don’t care if you live or die,” Yost said. “Here’s the deal: If you take drugs that weren’t prescribed by your doctor, you risk lethal exposure to synthetic opioids.”
Carfentanil’s presence peaked in Ohio in 2017, with BCI identifying it in 1,119 drug samples. Despite a sharp decrease in its prevalence in recent years, the uptick noted by BCI earlier this year is spreading.
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The 199 items found to contain carfentanil so far this year encompass samples from 46 Ohio counties. The drug’s highest prevalence has been in central and northwestern Ohio, with a more recent increase noted in southern Ohio counties.
Carfentanil is a lethal synthetic opioid about 100 times more potent than fentanyl and about 10,000 times more potent than morphine. An analog of fentanyl, carfentanil, is not approved for use in humans but is used by veterinarians to anesthetize elephants and other large animals.
Carfentanil can be found alone or in complex mixtures with fentanyl, xylazine, para-fluorofentanyl, heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine, and/or ketamine. The opioid comes in several forms and colors.
The BCI lab recently identified a new opioid compound in Ohio, N-propionitrile chlorphine, also known as cychlorphine. The compound is a rare synthetic opioid with effects similar to fentanyl.
The drug was seized at the scene of a non-fatal overdose in the Butler County city of Fairfield. Several doses of Narcan were needed to revive the individual, according to first responders.
N-propionitrile chlorphine is an emerging drug that has not been identified frequently in seized drug samples in Ohio or the United States. Other occurrences include a July 2025 overdose in Tennessee and an April 2024 drug seizure in Florida.
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