It is believed to be the first study of its kind in a nation where medical examiners have traditionally not done toxicology testing, in effect making it impossible to measure the scope of the nation’s drug problem - or even confirm its existence.Īnd it stands in stark contrast to the country’s official statistics, which show that 184 people received treatment for addiction to the drug nationwide in 2021. The research was led by the director of Baja California’s Forensic Medical Services, who shared the unpublished results with The Times. A novel testing initiative in Mexicali, the capital of Baja California, found that 23% of more than 1,100 bodies sent to the morgue over the last year tested positive for fentanyl, a synthetic opioid as much as 50 times stronger than heroin.
