Meth-laced sweets accidentally given to homeless in New Zealand

A homelessness charity in New Zealand distributed hundreds of sweets containing potentially lethal doses of methamphetamine to disadvantaged families in what is thought to have been a botched drug shipment.
Several people were taken to hospital after the pineapple-flavoured sweets were found to contain about 300 times the common recreational dose of methamphetamine. Recipients had complained about their bitter taste.
Police were scrambling to recover the sweets on Wednesday. Auckland City Mission is thought to have handed out food parcels containing the confectionery to an estimated 400 people.
The charity said the Malaysian-branded sweets had been imported and given by an unknown donor before being sent to hundreds of impoverished families. The charity was alerted by a food bank client who reported a “funny-tasting” sweet.
Helen Robinson, Auckland City Mission’s chief executive, said eight families had reported consuming the contaminated sweets but the “revolting” taste meant most spat them out. At least three people, including a child, were sent to hospital.
An overdose of methamphetamine, a central nervous system stimulant commonly used as a recreational drug, can cause chest pain, racing heart, seizures, delirium and loss of consciousness and death.
Detective Inspector Glenn Baldwin, who is leading the investigation, warned of a “massive risk to the public”, adding: “These drugs being concealed in the form of confectionery [are] hugely dangerous to everybody, but especially everyone’s kids and young people.
“It’s about 3g in weight of methamphetamine. Although we haven’t tested purity, it’s probably reasonably high purity, and that’s potentially a fatal dose.”
Robinson added: “Of immediate concern is the safety of the people we help. To say we are devastated is an absolute understatement.”
The pineapple sweets were tested by the NZ Drug Foundation, which confirmed a large presence of methamphetamine — enough to make each sweet worth about $NZ 1000 (£470) on the street.
Sarah Helm, the foundation spokeswoman, said: “A common dose to swallow is between 10 to 25mg, so this contaminated lolly contained up to 300 doses. Swallowing that much methamphetamine is extremely dangerous and could result in death. You could have only a very small touch or lick of this substance and still be affected.”
Helm told Radio New Zealand it was common for drug smugglers to hide narcotics in food. “We suspect somebody hasn’t intentionally sought to poison children. It will be up to police to determine,” she said.