American police have issued a warning to the public after seizing a 'super drug' they are calling 'gray death'.
The charcoal-looking rock of a substance is a combination of heroin, fentanyl and potentially carfentanil and is around 10,000 times stronger than morphine.
Because it's so unbelievably potent, even touching the powder could cause dust particles to enter your blood stream, via your pores, and lead to a fatal overdose. You only need 'miniscule' amounts to cause death.
The super drug was discovered by St. Mary Parish Sheriff's Office in Louisiana. The police force has written on Facebook warning people about the dangers of coming across this lethal drug.
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"In our work to keep drugs off our streets in St. Mary Parish, we made a couple of arrests in the last few days with something we don't see very often around here. It's a new type of heroin called 'gray death'," the Sheriff's Office wrote.
"Gray death is a lethal combination of some of the most deadly opioids including heroin, fentanyl, and various fentanyl analogues. It is reported to have a potency 10,000 times greater than morphine.
"The unidentified super drug began to surface in the south in Alabama and Georgia. A minuscule amount of this drug, which has the appearance of small chunks of concrete, can kill.
"This is the first time we have seen this drug by our agency in St. Mary Parish. We are quite sure that the drug has been found in other places in Louisiana, but in our area and parish, this is a bit of a rare find for us.
"As far as this drug or any other illicit drug, touching or handling them is not advisable. These drugs contain harmful ingredients in unknown amounts. Many times these drugs are accompanied by needles and other drug paraphernalia which can be dangerous."
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It's not known how many people have been arrested but police are happy that a sizeable chunk of this drug is now off the streets.
Heroin has been a scourge of communities for decades; however fentanyl has caused tens of thousands of deaths in the US alone over the past few years.
The synthetic drug caused more deaths than any other illicit substance in 2016, with 20,000 victims in that year. Carfentanil is a fentanyl analogue that is used by vets to anaesthetise large animals like elephants.
Featured Image Credit: St. Mary Parish Sheriff's Office/Facebook