Nearly 20 years after a teenage struggle with drug addiction that required rehab, 36-year-old Michael Nalewaja had built a stable life in Alaska, working as an electrician. That stability ended just before Thanksgiving 2025 when he and a friend unknowingly consumed what they believed was cocaine but was actually a deadly mixture containing fentanyl and carfentanil.
According to his mother, Kelley Nalewaja, there would have been little chance of survival even with immediate emergency response. She said that even if Narcan had been administered right away or 911 called quickly, the outcome would likely have been the same.
Carfentanil is an extremely powerful synthetic opioid originally intended for veterinary use, such as sedating large animals like elephants. Authorities say it can be up to 10,000 times stronger than morphine and about 100 times stronger than fentanyl. Even a tiny amount, smaller than a grain of salt, can be fatal. Law enforcement officials warn that this potency makes it especially dangerous for people using illicit street drugs, who may have no idea it is present in what they are taking.
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration intelligence indicates the drug is reappearing more frequently in the illegal drug supply. Officials link part of this shift to a recent crackdown in China on chemicals used to produce fentanyl, which may be pushing traffickers in Mexico to strengthen diluted fentanyl with carfentanil. DEA lab data shows a sharp rise in detections: carfentanil was identified 1,400 times in 2025 seizures, compared with 145 in 2023 and 54 in 2022. Despite the increase in its presence, overall overdose deaths and fentanyl seizures in the U.S. have been trending downward in recent years.
Experts describe the situation as especially alarming because standard overdose reversal treatments may not always work. Some warn that even multiple doses of naloxone may be insufficient when carfentanil is involved. The DEA also notes that only about 20 grams of carfentanil are legally produced each year in the U.S. for veterinary purposes, a quantity so small it can fit in a hand.
Following her son’s death, Kelley Nalewaja chose not to hold a traditional large funeral. Instead, she organized a town hall in El Dorado Hills, California, bringing together local officials and other parents who have lost children to similar overdoses. She described her son as a charismatic and accomplished electrician who had recently received a national award through his union, and she is now advocating for stronger policy and legal responses.
She said the nature of what killed him goes beyond accidental overdose. In her view, the presence of such a potent substance in the drug supply makes it fundamentally different. “It’s not an OD; it’s not an overdose,” she said. “It’s a murder weapon.”