A synthetic opioid has been found in the bodies of four people found dead in a Melbourne home last week, police say.
The bodies of the 17-year-old boy, two men aged 32 and 37, and a 42-year-old woman were discovered at the property in Broadmeadows, in Melbourne’s north, in the early hours of 25 June.
Police at the time said they suspected drugs were involved in their deaths.
On Thursday, they said preliminary tests “confirmed the presence of a synthetic opioid in the system of all four people”.
They said that while forensic testing remained ongoing, no presence of fentanyl had been detected.
Emergency services had been called to the Bicknell Court home just before 2am on 25 June, where the group was found dead. The deaths were not believed to be suspicious, police said.
Police previously said that while one of the people lived at the home, the other three were visiting.
The update came just days after the health department issued a drug alert for cocaine laced with protonitazene, a novel synthetic opioid that is up to 100 times more potent than heroin.
The department’s alert said there had been a string of recent incidents where people had bought the powder thinking it was cocaine, which had resulted in “serious harm”.
“The product appears to produce strong adverse effects such as loss of consciousness, respiratory depression, and life-threatening hypoxia (insufficient oxygen for normal functioning),” the alert read.
The alert followed a notification from the Penington Institute on Monday of “recent overdoses due to protonitazene toxicity in the Melbourne area drug supply”.
“It has recently appeared on several occasions in Victoria and interstate, including in what was understood to be cocaine.”
Police would not confirm what substance the four people had consumed but said they were aware of the health department’s drug alert.
They urged anyone with more information to come forward.
• In Australia, the National Alcohol and Other Drug Hotline is at 1800 250 015; families and friends can seek help at Family Drug Support Australia at 1300 368 186. In the UK, Action on Addiction is available on 0300 330 0659. In the US, call or text SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 988
