A tranquilizer commonly referred to as a “zombie drug” is being manufactured and smuggled across the U.S. southern border, according to a doctor who has spent years studying it. 

The drug xylazine, known as “tranq” in street lingo, is used as a tranquilizer by veterinarians. 

In the 2010s, the drug made its way to the streets almost exclusively by being stolen from veterinarians and was particularly prevalent on the East Coast. Now, it is being manufactured and coming from abroad, and its footprint could dramatically scale. 

“There’s evidence of it being imported into the U.S. through the southern border and also evidence of diversion of domestic veterinary supply,” Dr. Joseph Friedman, who has studied xylazine for years, told Fox News Digital.

That study showed xylazine presence in overdose deaths had jumped from 3.6% in 2015 to 6.7% in 2020. 

A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study published in 2022 concluded that xylazine prevalence in opioid deaths had increased from 2.9% in January 2019 to 10.9% in June 2022.

Xylazine from a veterinary practice (Fox News)

Fox News Digital reached out to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. 

The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) issued a public safety alert about the drug in 2023.

“Xylazine is making the deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced, fentanyl, even deadlier,” the DEA said at the time. “The DEA has seized xylazine and fentanyl mixtures in 48 of 50 states. The DEA Laboratory System is reporting that in 2022, approximately 23% of fentanyl powder and 7% of fentanyl pills seized by the DEA contained xylazine.”

Fox News’ Melissa Rudy contributed to this report.