A New Zealand food bank is scrambling to track down a stash of potentially lethal packages of meth-laced candies that were accidentally distributed to the homeless.
Auckland City Mission said Wednesday that the drug-packing pineapple-flavored sweets — which are inside innocent-looking wrapping marked with the Malaysian “Rinda” candy company logo — were given to the charity by an anonymous donor and included in food parcels.
So far authorities have recovered 16 of the faux candies, but the charity has reached out to as many as 400 people who may have unknowingly received them.
Three people have already been hospitalized after popping the candies, including a child and a staffer at the food bank who sampled one of the packages.
“We want to make it clear that Rinda Food does not use or condone the use of any illegal drugs in our products,” the company’s general manager, Steven Teh, said in a statement.
According to the New Zealand Drug Foundation, which first tested the candies, each package has up to 300 times the typical dose of methamphetamine, which can make them seriously deadly.
Foundation director Sarah Helm said each candy has about 3 grams of meth.
“We don’t know how widespread these contaminated lollies are, so we recommend not eating any Rinda brand pineapple lollies if you have them,” Helm told the New Zealand Herald. “If you or someone you know has eaten one and feels unwell, call [New Zealand’s emergency] 111 immediately.”
Authorities said the candies, which each have a street value of more than $600, are indicative of the common practice by traffickers to hide drugs in innocuous-looking packaging.
Fortunately, the drug-laced candies were described as “funny tasting” and “revolting,” which means most folks who popped them in their mouths likely spat them out right away, city officials said.
Methamphetamine is a bitter-tasting, odorless drug that affects the central nervous system.
