ILLINOIS, USA — The Quad Cities is among the latest to get hooked on a new street-drug trend.
Xylazine has been discovered laced with other drugs during raids across the bi-state region in 2023.
"You'll see the trends out on the West Coast, once you start seeing it on the West Coast, be ready, because it'll work its way across into the Midwest," Quad City Metropolitan Enforcement Group (MEG) Director Andrew Fratzke said.
Quad City MEG agents have busted three dealers with the drug cocktail so far this year.
"It just seems like there's always something new coming," Fratzke said.
A MEG official said dealers are cutting fentanyl to mix the substance. It's believed to be easy to get as it aims to extend the high and make more money off raking in a less-expensive drug.
"They call it a zombie drug," Fratzke said. "They will just walk around like zombies with their head down to the ground, slow walking around with their head down like zombies."
Health experts tell News 8, that xylazine is commonly used to sedate large animals such as horses.
"It is a non-opioid veterinary tranquilizer," UnityPoint Health Robert Young Center Naloxone Grant Coordinator Ibrahim Tarawneh said. "It is not used for humans due to it being a strong central nervous system depressant."
The impact leaves enlarged sores crippling a person's skin.
"It has a street name 'tranq' or 'tranq dope,'" Tarawneh said.
Two residents have died in Rock Island County related to xylazine since Nov. 2023. The state of Iowa reported 16 xylazine-related deaths since 2021.
Bridgeway Health Services in Galesburg is one of the many recovery centers hoping to spread awareness about the impact.
"At some point, the community has to take on the responsibility, that it's our responsibility to be a healthy community and that involves everybody here," Bridgeway Recovery Oriented System of Care (ROSC) Coordinator Leann Courson said.
Courson provides constant street outreach to help those who are fighting against the drug epidemic.
"We want you to thrive in our community, instead of being out here surviving," Courson said.
She hands out Narcan throughout Bridgeway's coverage area of Knox, Warren, Henry and Henderson counties.
"Each box has two of these and it's literally a nasal spray," Courson said. "If the person doesn't wake up in two to three minutes, you're going to give a second dose of Narcan in the opposite nostril."
The device works to reverse overdoses, such as fentanyl, but it cannot be treated with xylazine.
Police said xylazine is also popping up in cocaine, meth and heroin.
You can reach Courson and the ROSC program via Facebook, by clicking here.
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