A charity working with homeless people in Auckland, New Zealand, unknowingly distributed candy containing a potentially lethal dose of methamphetamine in its food parcels after the items were donated by a member of the public.
The Auckland City Mission told reporters on Wednesday that staff had begun contacting up to 400 people to trace packages that might contain the candy – solid blocks of methamphetamine in lollipop wrappers. New Zealand police have launched a criminal investigation.
The amount of methamphetamine in each lollipop was up to 300 times the amount normally ingested and could be fatal, according to the New Zealand Drug Foundation, a drug control and policy organization that first tested the lollipops.
Ben Birks Ang, a spokesman for the foundation, said hiding drugs as harmless goods was a common method of cross-border smuggling and that more sweets may have been distributed across New Zealand.
The sweets had a street value of NZ$1,000 (US$608) per lollipop, suggesting the donation by an unknown assailant was an accident rather than a deliberate attack, Birks Ang said.
City Commissioner Helen Robinson said eight families, including at least one child, have reported eating the contaminated candy since Tuesday. No one has been hospitalized, and Robinson said the “disgusting” taste caused most to spit the candy out immediately.
The charity’s food bank only accepts donations of industrially produced food in sealed packaging, Robinson said. The pineapple candies, which bore the label of Malaysian brand Rinda, “looked like that when donated” and arrived in a retail-sized bag, she added.
Rinda said in a written statement that the company had learned from New Zealand news reports that its candy “may have been misused” and would cooperate with authorities.
“We would like to make it clear that Rinda Food Industries does not use or condone the use of illegal drugs in its products,” said Managing Director Steven Teh.
Auckland City Mission was alerted on Tuesday by a food bank customer who reported a “funny tasting” lollipop. Staff sampled some of the remaining candy and immediately contacted authorities.
They were donated sometime in the last six weeks, Robinson said. It was not clear how many were distributed during that time and how many consisted of methamphetamine.
Among those receiving the food parcels were clients of the charity’s addiction services, and the news that drugs had been distributed had caused great dismay.
“To say we are devastated would be an understatement,” Robinson said.
Methamphetamine is a powerful, highly addictive stimulant that affects the central nervous system. It is a white, odorless, bitter-tasting crystalline powder that dissolves easily in water or alcohol.
