A charity working with the homeless in Auckland, New Zealand, unknowingly distributed candies containing lethal amounts of methamphetamine in food packages.
The “candies,” which were actually blocks of methamphetamine wrapped to look like candy, were donated to the Auckland City Mission by a member of the public. The organization has contacted nearly 400 people to trace the source, and the police have started a criminal investigation.
The amount of methamphetamine in each candy was up to 300 times higher than the level a person would usually take and could be fatal, according to the New Zealand Drug Foundation. Such “candies” are sold for NZ$ 1,000 (€546) each, suggesting that the donation from an unknown member of the public was made by mistake.
Methamphetamine can cause symptoms such as chest pain, rapid heartbeat, delirium, loss of consciousness, and seizures.
Eight families, including at least one child, reported consuming the candies. However, no one was hospitalized because they immediately spat them out due to the “disgusting” taste.
The charity’s food bank only accepts food donations that are commercially produced and in sealed packaging. The pineapple candies, which were labeled with a Malaysian brand, arrived sealed in retail-sized bags. They were donated at some point in the last six weeks, but it is unclear how many were distributed during that time and how many contained methamphetamine.
What is fyi.news?
