Police investigating link between super-potent cocaine and Broadmeadows house of horrors where four people died in suspected drug tragedy

A mass drug overdose that is believed to have killed four people in a Melbourne home may be linked to a deadly new form of cocaine on the market.

Michael Hodgkinson, 32, was one of four people found in the living room of a home in the northern suburb of Broadmeadows last week.

Abdul El Sayed, 17, was also killed, along with an unidentified 37-year-old man and a 42-year-old woman at the house in Bicknell Court.

On Tuesday, Victoria’s Department of Health issued a warning about cocaine laced with protonitazene, a new synthetic opioid.

“There have recently been serious accidents in Melbourne involving a white powder sold as cocaine that contained protonatazene,” the warning said.

‘The product appears to cause, among other things, unconsciousness, respiratory depression and life-threatening hypoxia (insufficient oxygen for normal functioning).’

A Victoria Police spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia that detectives are continuing to investigate the Broadmeadows tragedy, with forensic results not expected for several weeks.

Last week, police were seen entering the building using oxygen tanks. It was feared that the four people may have been intoxicated by some form of gas.

A mass drug overdose that is believed to have left four people dead at a house in Melbourne’s Broadmeadows may be linked to a deadly new form of cocaine flooding the market

Michael Hodgkinson was one of four people who died in a suspected overdose in Broadmeadows last week

Abdul El Sayed, 17, (right) leaves behind a partner and an 18-month-old daughter

Carbon monoxide poisoning was quickly ruled out because there was still a dog in the house.

Abdul’s uncle Cory Lewis also told Daily Mail Australia he was convinced his nephew had died of a drug overdose.

Mr. Lewis was the first on the scene and reported the incident to the police.

“I went right in there and I didn’t smell anything,” Cory said.

The health service warned that the new type of cocaine have a strong effect even in very small quantities.

‘Protonitazene has a potency of more than 100 times “That of heroin,” the warning reads.

Cocaine has a stimulant effect, while proton pump inhibitors have a sedative effect and can lead to opioid overdose.

‘The concomitant use of proton pump inhibitors such as alcohol, GHB or tranquilizers (such as Xanax or Valium) increases the risk of overdose.’

It was further stated that respiratory depression also occurs more rapidly with new synthetic opioids.

Taking protonatazene with alcohol or other prescription medications such as Xanax or Valium may also increase the risk of overdose.

Health officials have previously linked protonitazene to overdoses in Victoria and beyond, including a fatality in South Australia.

Authorities warned it was mixed with other drugs, making it difficult to trace where it came from.

Last week, Victoria Police Detective Constable Dean Thomas said police were investigating the possibility that the Broadmeadows deaths were all the result of an overdose.

“It’s not often that you have four dead at one address, possibly from a drug overdose. But we have to keep an open mind and until we confirm that, it could be anything,” Detective Thomas said.

“I can’t say for sure whether (fentanyl) is involved,” he added.

Police used oxygen tanks to enter the Broadmeadows property last week

Abdul El Sayed is pictured with his mother Jessica Lewis during happier times

Police are not treating the deaths as suspicious at this stage of the investigation, but believe they are primarily interested in the source of the drugs they believe the victims died from.

“We are still open at this time as to what the cause of death is,” Mr Thomas said.

The deaths coincided with an announcement by the Victorian government that drug controls would be introduced after 46 overdose deaths involving new synthetic opioids were recorded since 2022.

The initiative will see the creation of a mobile drug testing service that will visit up to 10 music festivals, with a permanent location expected to open in central Melbourne next year.

Both the mobile and landline services can test the composition of most pills, capsules, powders, crystals and liquids to identify deadly substances, including synthetic drugs.