Learn more at the interactive story “Fentanyl’s deadly chemistry: How rogue labs make opioids“.

This special reports visual story explores the chemistry behind fentanyl. It’s a big topic to cover! We put in months of reporting considering every detail weaving graphics & text. We wanted readers to relate to the scale of the lethal drug by using a pill bottle, leading me down a rabbit-hole of weighing+counting pills, too much math and feeling stuck. Thankful when writer Draz pointed out they don’t come in bottles! A new design was born.

What is fentanyl? This Q led me to speed-relearn organic chem. After studying 100+ structures, I started color-coding molecular groups to make it easier for my brain. My editor Feilding Cage liked how it made scary chemistry more assessable, and suggest turning them into toy blocks!

Reuters purchased chemicals used in making fentanyl (read here ) and many arrived in mislabeled small boxes. Of the many illustrations, I was surprised drawing boxes was not easy. No shortcuts. I diligently drew every perspective line & studied my mail.

Virtually all the illicit fentanyl trafficked to the U.S. is produced in Mexico, often in crude structures or labs. On the ground reporting and interviews helped to visualize possible environments of where the drug is produced. Here is the illustration process:

Reuters spoke with a freelance fentanyl producer about his craft, who said it was as easy as ‘making chicken soup.’ Working with chemists Dr. Andrea E Holmes and Dr. Alex Krotulski, and many rounds of sketches, we pieced together the likely synthesis process

This is a huge project on an urgent issue. Check it out!

Check out my other projects!