White Lake man dies from China opiods bought on 'dark web'

WHITE LAKE TWP., Mich. (WJBK) - A White Lake Township man has died after ingesting synthetic opioids he bought from China. Police say he found the drugs on the so-called "dark web" of the internet.

"Don't touch it kids, it will kill you," says Todd McGeachy.

The father talks about his 19-year-old son, Brennan McGeachy, who was found dead on his bathroom floor Oct. 5 from an overdose on synthetic heroin from China bought from a seedy website.

"He was in the bathroom for maybe 10 minutes," McGeachy says. "I didn't hear any water running; I knocked on the door; no answer. And when I went in and found him he had no pulse, no respiration at that point."

Brennan overdosed just after two months out of a state prison drug rehab program.

"He ordered a synthetic opioid over the internet from China," his dad says.

And that substance, from China, is called U-47700.

"It's just a synthetic drug. It is made in Asia and is currently legal because it's synthetic," says Chief Adam Kline, White Lake Township police. "It is made to mirror the effects of Heroin."

Except this injectable substance is a lot more powerful. It took Brennan's life in less than 10 minutes.

"The law has not caught up with the synthetic makeup as of yet," Kline says.

To make it illegal, it would take an act of the legislature, which is one problem.

But the other problem is that Brennan bought this from the "dark web."

"It is very difficult to track the sender and the receiver," McGeachy says. "At that point it's all confiscated and rerouted and firewalled through the dark web and you can't get caught."

Also referred to as buying on the "dark market," you can buy such things as child porn, counterfeit money and that deadly substance.

"Yes it's deadly," Kline said. "You don't know what you're getting off the dark market."