In this photo provided by the NZ Drug Foundation, a pineapple-flavoured candy filled with a potentially lethal dose of methamphetamine is displayed in Auckland, New Zealand, on Tuesday.
Shaun Hill/AP/New Zealand Foundation Against Drugs
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Shaun Hill/AP/New Zealand Foundation Against Drugs
WELLINGTON, New Zealand — A charity working with the homeless in Auckland, New Zealand, unknowingly distributed sweets laced with a potentially lethal dose of methamphetamine in its food parcels after the sweets were donated by a member of the public.
The Auckland City Mission said on Wednesday that staff had begun contacting up to 400 people to track down packages that could contain the sweets – which were solid blocks of methamphetamine encased in candy wrappers. Three people were treated in hospital after consuming them, New Zealand authorities said, but were later released.
The amount of methamphetamine in each candy was up to 300 times more than someone would normally take and could be fatal, according to the New Zealand Drug Foundation, a drug control and enforcement organization that first tested the candy.
Foundation spokesman Ben Birks Ang said disguising drugs as harmless products was a common cross-border smuggling technique and more sweets could have been distributed across New Zealand.
The sweets had a street value of NZ$1,000 (US$608) each, suggesting the gift by an unknown member of the public was accidental rather than a deliberate attack, Birks Ang said.
Authorities initially believed it was an importation operation gone wrong, Detective Glenn Baldwin said, but the nature and scope of the operation remained unknown. Officers recovered 16 candies, but they don’t know how many are in circulation, he said.
City Commissioner Helen Robinson said eight families, including at least one child, had reported eating contaminated candy since Tuesday. The candy’s “disgusting” taste prompted most of them to immediately spit it out.
The charity’s food bank only accepts donations of commercially produced food items in sealed packages, Robinson said. The pineapple candies, branded by Malaysian brand Rinda, “looked that way when they were donated,” arriving in a commercial-sized bag, she added.
The Auckland City Mission was alerted on Tuesday by a food bank client who reported some “weird tasting” sweets. Staff tasted some of the remaining sweets and immediately contacted authorities. One staff member was taken to hospital after tasting the sweets, Baldwin said, adding that a child and a “young person” were also treated at the hospital before being released.
The candy had been distributed over the past six weeks, Robinson said. It’s unclear how much was distributed during that time and how much was made of methamphetamine.
Rinda said in a written statement that the company had learned through New Zealand media reports that its sweets “may have been misused” and would cooperate with authorities.
“We would like to clarify that Rinda Food Industries does not use or condone the use of illegal drugs in our products,” said Managing Director Steven Teh.
Methamphetamine is a powerful and highly addictive stimulant that affects the central nervous system. It comes in the form of a white, odorless, bitter-tasting crystalline powder that dissolves easily in water or alcohol.
