Fentanyl use spreads deeper into Mexico, on heels of US epidemic

Activist Julian Rojas from the NGO Programa Companeros, which implements programs and projects aimed at vulnerable social groups, shows a vial of Naloxone used to rapidly reverse opioid overdose, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico July 24, 2023. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez

MONTERREY, Mexico (Reuters) - The teenager who arrived at Jose de Jesus Lopez's drug rehab clinic in the industrial Mexican city of Monterrey in December had unusual symptoms.

The 17-year-old's family had taken the boy to hospital a few days earlier when he'd had trouble breathing and then passed out after supposedly consuming cocaine, the director said. Now he was sweaty and nauseous. He'd been vomiting and couldn't sleep.