A food bank in New Zealand has unwittingly been handing out sweets laced with potentially lethal doses of methamphetamine in its food parcels, it was revealed on Aug. 14.
The Auckland City Mission charity stated that staff had begun contacting up to 400 people to track down parcels that could contain the sweets, which were solid blocks of methamphetamine enclosed in candy wrappers.
Three people were treated in the hospital after consuming the narcotic candies, which were donated by a member of the public, according to New Zealand authorities.
The amount of methamphetamine in each sweet was up to 300 times the level someone would usually take and could be lethal, according to the New Zealand Drug Foundation.
Foundation spokesperson Ben Birks Ang said disguising drugs is a common cross-border smuggling technique. Each candy has a street value of NZ$1,000 (US$608), suggesting that the donation to the food bank by an unidentified person was accidental rather than malicious, according to Birks Ang.
“Initial perceptions” were that the episode was likely an ill-executed importation scheme, but the nature and scale of the operation was unknown, according to Detective Inspector Glenn Baldwin.
He said 16 of the sweets had been recovered, but they were uncertain of the quantity that may be in circulation.
Helen Robinson of the Auckland City Mission said eight families, including at least one child, had reported trying the contaminated confectionary since Aug. 13, but that the “revolting” taste meant most spat them out immediately.
The charity’s food bank, which only accepts donations of commercially produced food in sealed packaging, said the candies had appeared to be pineapple-flavored sweets produced by the Malaysian company Rinda and were dropped off sometime in the past six weeks, Robinson said.
Auckland City Mission was notified on Aug. 13 by a food bank user reporting “funny-tasting” candy.
Staff members tasted some of the remaining candies and immediately contacted the authorities, with one staff member being taken to the hospital after sampling one.
Rinda said in a written statement that the company had learned through New Zealand news reports that its candies “may have been misused” and would cooperate with authorities.
“We want to make it clear that Rinda Food Industries does not use or condone the use of any illegal drugs in our products,” General Manager Steven Teh said.
Methamphetamines usually come in a white, odorless, bitter-tasting crystalline powder that easily dissolves in water or alcohol.
