Man found brother dead in bedroom after phone call from friend

Vincenzo has issued a warning after his brother Danny died at the age of 39

A grieving man is warning people to stay away from a powerful and dangerous new street drug after his younger brother died of an overdose. Danny Draper, 39, died in his friend’s flat in Toxteth on January 24 after taking a lethal combination of ecstasy, kraton and nitazene – a highly potent synthetic opioid which is significantly stronger than heroin.

Danny’s brother, Vincenzo Carubia, found him unconscious in bed, a moment which he says “will stay with me for the rest of my life”. Following an inquest last week into Danny’s death, Vincenzo spoke to the ECHO about his brother and how he spiralled into addiction. According to Vincenzo, Danny got into drugs when he was in his 20s after suffering back pain.

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He said: “It all started when he got a prescription from his GP for his back condition. He became addicted to opioids through prescription drugs. It just spiralled from there, and over a period of time he was hooked. Like most drug users, he needed a bigger and bigger hit, and then he started to buy pain meds through the dark web.”

Danny’s addiction wasn’t always obvious to those around him. He spent many years travelling around the world, moving from country to country. But when lockdown hit in 2020, his life changed beyond recognition.

Vincenzo said: “When lockdown happened he felt trapped. He got more and more involved in drugs and fell down the rabbit hole.”

He continued: “We didn’t know how serious the problem was. We knew he was into prescription meds and on opioids for pain – mostly oxycontin. But we had no idea he was ordering nitazene from the dark web. It’s terrifying – it’s the most dangerous drug in the world. He didn’t know how deadly it was.”

Nitazenes are becoming increasingly common on British streets. The drug was developed decades ago by pharmaceutical companies as an alternative to morphine but shelved due to the risks of overdose. According to the NHS, a smaller amount of nitazenes are needed to get high, posing an increased risk of overdose and death.

The drug is manufactured in laboratories and said to be imported in large quantities to the UK from China. In the UK, a surge in nitazine usage began last summer, and between June 2023 and August this year, there were 284 confirmed deaths from the drug, according to the National Crime Agency.

Vincenzo remembers every moment of the heartbreaking day he found his brother’s lifeless body. He told the ECHO: “Danny’s friend phoned me and asked me if I’d seen him. At 11pm, I popped around to the flat for a welfare check.

“I went into the kitchen and there was no sign of him. Then I went into the bedroom and saw him lying on the bed. I thought he was sleeping, so I said, ‘hey, wake up!’ but there was no response. Then I saw dark marks on his arms and I said to myself, that’s not good.”

Vincenzo turned Danny over to administer CPR, before calling for an ambulance. He said: “I tried everything I could. The kiss of life, CPR. I even slapped him in the face to get a response, but it was no good. I’ll never ever forget being on top of him, pounding his chest. That’s going to be with me for the rest of my life – that stays with you until you die.”

“Five minutes later, the paramedics arrived and told me he was gone. I don’t know how long he’d been there for. I’d spoken to him 24 hours earlier on Facebook, so it was sometime after that. He went to sleep and never woke up.”

Vincenzo and his family are devastated by Danny’s death. He said: “There are always going to be questions. What did we miss? Could we have done anything more to stop it? There’s always that guilt there.

“I would have moved him into my home if I’d known this would happen. Six weeks before he died, he was crying in my arms like a baby, saying, ‘I’m going to die’. I said, are you ill? He said, ‘no, but I’m dying’. I couldn’t work it out.”

Now, Vincenzo is determined to ensure his brother did not die in vain. In speaking to the ECHO, he is hoping to raise awareness of the dangers of nitazines to warn other people about its potency. “If this message can get to one person and saves them,” he said, “then Danny’s death is not for nothing. He won’t have died on a mattress on his own for nothing. This could be his legacy.”

He added: “After Danny died, I found out how easy it is to get these drugs and the dangers they pose. They are literally killing people, and they’re so easy to find on the internet. It’s heartbreaking – to me it’s an epidemic waiting to happen. You take these drugs, and it’s like getting a revolver and spinning it. It will eventually go off, and it will kill you.”

Detective Superintendent Paul Speight of Merseyside Police said: “Merseyside Police is fully sighted on the problem of synthetic opioids and nitazenes, which is a national issue. The sad death of Danny Draper is the first time we have seen a death that has been linked to nitazenes on Merseyside but we are currently working with our partners to raise awareness of the threat posed by synthetic opioid use.

“Project ADDER (Addiction, Diversion, Disruption, Enforcement and Recovery) was launched in January 2021 across Wirral, Knowsley and Liverpool by Merseyside Police and partners. Through Project Adder there is a real focus on prevention and steering drug users into treatment in line with the 10-year harm to hope national drug strategy.

“It was introduced to test a whole-system, public health approach to tackling drug misuse and drug-related crime, which is driven by police and local authority partners and involves drug treatment and recovery services. Three years into the project, Merseyside has seen a reduction in drugs possession offences (222 fewer offences, down 2.9 percent), a reduction in drugs trafficking offences (37 fewer offences, down 2.6 per cent) and a significant 109 per cent increase (755 more referrals) in drug users being referred to drug support agencies.

“Project ADDER supports and steers people away from a life of taking drugs, with the main aim to re-engage individuals into society and introduce them to programmes focused on treatment and recovery.”

Following the seizure of Danny’s mobile phone, a man was arrested by Merseyside Police. The ECHO understands he was arrested for selling prescription-only medication, and is not directly implicated in the death of Danny. He has been released under investigation pending further enquiries.

Addiction help and support services

If you are struggling with addiction issues, there are a number of organisations that can help. The Liverpool Central Addaction Recovery Centre is based in The Foundry in Henry Street, you can call the charity on 0151 706 7888.

You can also contact the Community Recovery Liverpool centre on 0151 703 0679. Sharp is another addiction support service based in Rodney Street, which can be contacted on 0151 703 0679.