A New Zealand charity got way more than it bargained for from one candy donation. Instead of a sugar rush, these seemingly innocuous confections gave consumers a potentially lethal high. That’s because an unknown party disguised concentrated methamphetamine as a simple hard candy that was easily confused for the real thing.
New Zealand charity candy contains potentially lethal levels of meth
According to ABC News, Auckland City Mission inadvertently sent out food parcels that contained methamphetamine disguised as candy. Upon testing, the New Zealand Drug Foundation stated that each candy contained around 3 grams of the drug, which is around 300 times the typical oral dose of 10-25mg.
Unfortunately, authorities aren’t sure how far the fake candies have spread. Auckland City Mission stated that they were attempting to contact around 400 people to track down potentially tainted parcels. However, since the charity works with the homeless, that’s easier said than done.
So far, three people have been hospitalized because of the candy but were later discharged. Additionally, eight families have reported contact with them. Fortunately, the horrible taste led most who tried to consume the fake candies to immediately spit them out.
While some might think the tainted donation was intentional, the NZ Drug Foundation is doubtful. Apparently, this is a common smuggling tactic, and the $600 street value of each sweet would make it an incredibly costly method of attack.
The company behind the actual candy, Rinda, responded to the incident (via BBC). According to Steven Peh, a general manager with the company, the brand intends to work closely with law enforcement to address the issue. He also warned that the fake candy seen in photos is white and the real thing is yellow, a tip that’ll help New Zealand locals avoid inadvertently consuming meth.
No other charities have reported the same issue, and there haven’t been any reports of the meth candy turning up from another source.
