The Viral Video That Triggered a National Conversation
On March 25, 2026, a video from Chandigarh’s Sector 33B started circulating rapidly across X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram. The footage showed a Blinkit delivery agent standing completely motionless for nearly two to two-and-a-half hours, with a blank look on his face and a bidi in his mouth. He appeared entirely disconnected from the people and traffic around him. Bystanders initially observed from a distance before deciding to alert authorities. Police arrived at the scene and took the delivery worker away for medical evaluation.
The video immediately set off a wave of speculation. Many online called it evidence of the “zombie drug” arriving in India. Others suggested extreme fatigue, a medical episode, or some other cause. Authorities have not confirmed any link to drug use so far. The case remains under examination, with officials expected to clarify the cause after medical reports.
This is an important starting point: the cause of the man’s condition is, as of now, officially unconfirmed. Responsible reporting requires that we say this clearly. What the video did do, however, is force a legitimate question into public conversation: what exactly is the zombie drug, and could it realistically be making inroads into India?
What Is the ‘Zombie Drug’? Xylazine and Fentanyl Explained
The “zombie drug” is not a single substance. The term is most commonly used to describe xylazine, sometimes used alone but more typically found mixed with fentanyl. Understanding what each of these is matters.
Xylazine is a veterinary sedative, used by vets to tranquilise large animals like horses and cattle. It has not been approved for human use. Xylazine can make people drowsy and cause breathing, heart rate, and blood pressure to slow to dangerously low levels. On the street, it goes by the name “tranq” or, when mixed with opioids, “tranq dope.”
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is approximately 100 times more potent than morphine. It has legitimate medical applications for severe pain management, but illicitly manufactured fentanyl has become the central driver of the overdose crisis in the United States.
The reason xylazine is added to fentanyl is economic and pharmacological. A kilogram of xylazine powder can be purchased from online suppliers at as little as $6-$20 per kilogram. Mixing it with fentanyl allows traffickers to increase the weight of the product while also extending the duration of its effects, since xylazine is long-acting. Many users are consuming xylazine without knowing it is in what they bought.
Why Is It Called the ‘Zombie Drug’?
The name comes from two things. First, the extreme sedation it causes: xylazine overdose can lead to a prolonged period of sedation lasting for hours, during which the person can appear unconscious and experience amnesia and out-of-body experiences. This is what produces the “frozen” or trance-like appearance seen in footage from American cities. Second, the physical damage it causes to the body over time: people who inject drug mixtures containing xylazine can develop severe wounds, including necrosis, the rotting of human tissue, that may lead to amputation.
The Critical Medical Risk: Naloxone Cannot Reverse It
This is perhaps the most dangerous aspect of xylazine. Because xylazine is not an opioid, naloxone (Narcan) does not reverse its effects. Naloxone is the standard emergency intervention for opioid overdoses. When xylazine is present, a first responder who administers naloxone may see partial improvement (from the fentanyl component) while the person remains severely sedated from the xylazine. Experts always recommend administering naloxone if someone might be suffering a drug poisoning involving xylazine, since opioids are often present alongside it. But it will not be enough on its own.
In the United States, age-adjusted overdose deaths involving xylazine were 35 times higher in 2021 than in 2018. The Biden administration declared xylazine-laced fentanyl an emerging drug threat in April 2023.
Has the Zombie Drug Officially Reached India?
The honest answer is: there is no confirmed case. While some on social media linked the Chandigarh delivery worker’s behaviour to drug effects including claims about the zombie drug, there is no official confirmation and the reports remain unverified.
It is entirely possible the man in the video was suffering from exhaustion, a medical condition, or the effects of a different substance altogether. The video does not in itself prove xylazine’s presence in India.
What can be said is this: the conditions that allowed xylazine to spread rapidly in the US, specifically a pre-existing opioid abuse crisis and an illicit drug supply with adulterated substances, do have parallels in India. And the region where this video originated, Punjab and the Chandigarh belt, is precisely where India’s drug crisis is most acute.
Punjab’s Drug Problem: The Context You Need
The Chandigarh video did not emerge from a vacuum. It emerged from a state that has been fighting an opioid epidemic for over two decades, with incomplete success.
A 2022 population survey indicated that 15.4% of Punjab’s residents reported substance use. Analysis of data from 2015 to 2024 revealed over 51,000 NDPS cases and the seizure of more than 4,600 kg of heroin over the same period. More than 3 million people are estimated to be consuming drugs in Punjab, and the annual drug trade in the state is estimated at Rs 7,500 crore.
Punjab’s ‘chitta’, a synthetic heroin derivative, has upended the lives of people across class, gender, age and place. Punjab alone accounts for over one-fifth of the total recoveries of heroin in the country.
According to the NCRB report, Punjab recorded the highest number of drug overdose deaths for the second consecutive year in 2023, with 89 fatalities. Between January 2024 and April 2025, Punjab agencies confirmed 782 overdose deaths in the state.
The geography explains a great deal. Being situated near the Golden Crescent crossroads of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran, also called the ‘Triangle of Death’, Punjab is a lucrative market for drug gangs. Heroin is smuggled across from Pakistan, entering at comparatively low prices that make the state a hotspot. Punjab’s 553-kilometre border with Pakistan positions it as a major route for heroin trafficking, with smugglers increasingly relying on drones and complex networks of local couriers to transport drugs across the border.
The state has not been passive. The ‘Yudh Nashian Virudh’ (War Against Drugs) drive led to more than 34,000 arrests, the recovery of more than 1,500 kg of heroin and almost 40 lakh pharmaceutical tablets. Opioid Substitution Therapy clinics, known as OOAT centres, operate across the state. Evidence-based programmes such as Opioid Substitution Therapy and Punjab’s Project Samvedna, a peer-led recovery support initiative, have shown promise. But researchers and public health experts are consistent in their conclusion: enforcement alone has not been enough, and public health infrastructure for treatment and rehabilitation remains severely under-resourced relative to the scale of the problem.
What Should Be Made of the Viral Video?
The Chandigarh video raises a legitimate concern, but it must be handled carefully.
Jumping from a viral video to the conclusion that xylazine is now circulating in India is not supported by current evidence. The man’s condition has multiple plausible explanations. Making definitive claims without verified medical or toxicological confirmation does a disservice both to the facts and to the individual involved.
What the video does do, correctly, is prompt the question of whether India is prepared for the possibility. Given that synthetic drugs are evolving rapidly globally, that Punjab already has a deep opioid problem, and that xylazine is cheap and easily available, complacency would be the wrong response.
The concerns worth taking seriously are systemic: India needs better drug testing infrastructure so that new substances can be identified quickly when they appear, better first-responder training on substances that do not respond to standard naloxone protocols, and a genuine scaling up of public health responses to addiction rather than a continued over-reliance on enforcement metrics.
Key Takeaways
- A Blinkit delivery worker in Chandigarh’s Sector 33B was filmed standing motionless for nearly two and a half hours on March 25, 2026, triggering widespread speculation about the zombie drug reaching India.
- The cause of his condition has not been officially confirmed. No toxicological report linking the incident to xylazine or fentanyl has been released.
- Xylazine is a veterinary sedative mixed into illicit drugs, most commonly fentanyl. It causes extreme sedation, cannot be reversed by naloxone, and causes severe tissue damage with long-term use.
- There is no confirmed case of xylazine circulating in India as of the time of publication.
- Punjab is dealing with a serious and long-standing opioid crisis, with over 3 million people estimated to be consuming drugs and 782 overdose deaths recorded between January 2024 and April 2025.
- The appropriate response to this video is informed vigilance and investment in public health infrastructure, not panic or unverified claims.
FAQs
Has the zombie drug been confirmed in India?
No. As of March 2026, there is no official or medically confirmed case of xylazine or xylazine-laced fentanyl being identified in India. The Chandigarh incident remains under medical evaluation and no toxicology report has been publicly released.
What exactly is xylazine?
Xylazine is a non-opioid sedative approved only for veterinary use. It is increasingly being mixed into illicit drug supplies, usually with fentanyl, to extend the drug’s effects and increase street value. It causes extreme sedation, dangerously slows heart rate and breathing, and can cause severe skin wounds and tissue death with repeated use. It cannot be reversed by naloxone.
Why is Punjab specifically at risk?
Punjab shares a 553-kilometre border with Pakistan and sits near the Golden Crescent, one of the world’s largest opium-producing regions. The state already has a deep opioid problem, with an estimated 3 million people consuming drugs. This pre-existing crisis and the proximity to trafficking routes make Punjab more exposed to evolving drug threats than most Indian states.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. All claims about the Chandigarh incident reflect the officially unconfirmed status of the case as of March 26, 2026. Medical information on xylazine is sourced from the US DEA, CDC, and NIDA.