https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CarfentanilIn 2012, a team of researchers at the British chemical and biological defense laboratories at Porton Down found carfentanil and remifentanil in clothing from two British survivors of the 2002 Moscow theater hostage crisis and urine from a third survivor. The team concluded that the Russian military used an aerosol mist of carfentanil and remifentanil to subdue Chechen hostage takers.[5]
Authors of a previous paper in the Annals of Emergency Medicine surmised from the available evidence that the Moscow emergency services had not been informed of the use of the agent, but were instructed to bring opioid antagonists. Not knowing to expect hundreds of patients exposed to high doses of strong opioids, the emergency workers did not bring enough naloxone or naltrexone (the two most commonly-used opioid antagonists) to counteract the carfentanil and remifentanil and save the lives of many of the victims. 125 people exposed to the gas used in the rescue attempt are confirmed to have died from both respiratory failure and aerosol inhalation during the incident. The authors state that, assuming carfentanil and remifentanil were the only active ingredients of the knockout gas, that the worst danger to the theater victims would have been apnea (loss of breathing), and that mechanical ventilation and/or treatment with opioid antagonists could have saved many lives.[6]
The toxicity of carfentanil has been compared to that of nerve gas, according to the Associated Press' article "Chemical weapon for sale: China's unregulated narcotic". The article quoted Andrew C. Weber, Assistant US Secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Defense Programs from 2009 to 2014, as saying "It's a weapon. Companies shouldn't be just sending it to anybody." Mr. Weber added "Countries that we are concerned about were interested in using it for offensive purposes... We are also concerned that groups like ISIS could order it commercially." Mr. Weber described various ways carfentanil could be used as a weapon, such as knocking troops out and taking them hostage or killing civilians in closed spaces such as train stations.[3]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remifentanilhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscow_theater_hostage_crisisThe Moscow theater hostage crisis (also known as the 2002 Nord-Ost siege) was the seizure of a crowded Dubrovka Theater by 40 to 50 armed Chechens on 23 October 2002 that involved 850 hostages and ended with the death of at least 170 people. The attackers, led by Movsar Barayev, claimed allegiance to the Islamist militant separatist movement in Chechnya.[1] They demanded the withdrawal of Russian forces from Chechnya and an end to the Second Chechen War.
Due to the layout of the theater, special forces would have had to fight through 30 metres (98 ft) of corridor and attack up a well defended staircase before they could reach the hall in which the hostages were held. The attackers had numerous explosives, with the most powerful in the center of the auditorium. After the murder of two female hostages two-and-a-half days in, Spetsnaz operators from Federal Security Service (FSB) Alpha and Vega Groups, supported by a Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) SOBR unit, pumped an undisclosed chemical agent into the building's ventilation system and began the rescue operation.[1]
All 40 of the attackers were killed,[2] with no casualties among Spetsnaz; about 130 hostages died, including nine foreigners, due to adverse reactions to the gas.[2] All but two of the hostages who died during the siege were killed by the toxic substance pumped into the theater to subdue the militants.[3][4] The use of the gas was widely condemned as heavy-handed, but the American and British governments deemed Russia's actions justifiable.[5] Physicians in Moscow condemned the refusal to disclose the identity of the gas. Some reports said the drug naloxone was successfully used as an antidote to save some hostages, suggesting the gas was an opiate-based compound.
