A New Zealand charity has apologised after police discovered 400 candies laced with a “lethal dose of methamphetamine” in food parcels.
“We are not sure how widespread the tainted candy is so if you have any Linda brand pineapple candy we recommend you do not eat it,” the New Zealand Drug Foundation (NZDF) said in a statement on its website. “If you or anyone you know has eaten it and becomes unwell please call 111 immediately.”
The Oakland City Mission contacted authorities after recipients of the candy said it “tasted funny.” At least three people, including a child, required medical attention after eating the candy, but no one had been taken to the hospital as of Wednesday.
The New Zealand Drug Federation estimates that the street value of each methamphetamine-laced lollipop is about $600. Police have recovered 29 lollipops, but it is unclear how many are in circulation.
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The charity warns that consuming the candy could cause symptoms including chest pain, palpitations, seizures, high body temperature, delirium and loss of consciousness. The candy may have a “strong and unpleasant” taste.
Photographs of wrapped and unwrapped methamphetamine-laced candy. (New Zealand Drug Foundation)
“I can assure the public that we are treating this matter extremely seriously,” Detective Glenn Baldwin said at a news conference.
The charity, which has received the candy in sealed retail packages as part of anonymous donations over the past six weeks, has been working to trace as many of the packages as possible, as they believe the candy may contain lethal amounts of methamphetamine.
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“A typical dose is between 10 and 25 mg, so this tainted candy contained up to 300 servings.” Sarah Helm of the New Zealand Defence Force said:“Swallowing this amount of methamphetamine is extremely dangerous and can be fatal.”
A view of Waitemata Harbour on July 3, 2024 in Auckland, New Zealand. (Fiona Goodall/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
According to The New York Times, the organization distributes about 50,000 food packs a year, which contain only commercially available foods, and each pack distributed with the tainted candy may have contained just a few or even dozens of pieces of candy.
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Foundation spokesman Ben Birks-Ang told The Associated Press that disguising drugs as harmless items is a common tactic for cross-border smuggling, and many more candies could have been distributed across New Zealand.
The methamphetamine was concealed in pineapple candies and labelled with the Malaysian brand Linda. Police now believe the delivery was made by mistake, making it a foiled smuggling ploy.
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“We at Linda Food Industries want to be clear that we do not use or condone the use of any illegal drugs in our products,” general manager Steven Teh said in a written statement to media after learning of the existence of the “tampered” candy through media reports.
