New Zealand Charity Unknowingly Distributes 'Solid Block Of Meth In Sweet Wrappers' (X image @MaqsoodAsi)

A charity working with homeless people unknowingly gave sweets loaded with a potentially lethal dose of methamphetamine in its food parcels. It is said that it was solid blocks of meth enclosed in sweet wrappers. The item was donated by a member of public. The incident took place in New Zealand’s Auckland.

Reportedly, eight families, including at least one child consumed the contaminated sweets. However, no one was hospitalised, which is believed to be due to the “revolting” taste that might have prompted to immediately spat them out, said the City Missioner, Helen Robinson, as quoted by The Guardian.

The Auckland City Mission told reporters that the staff had started to contact up to 400 people, in order to track down parcels that could contain the sweets. The Mission was alerted by a food bank client who reported a “funny-tasting” lolly. Staff tasted some of the remaining sweets and immediately contacted the authorities.

Also Read: Drugs Worth Rs 800 Crore Seized From Maharashtra, Gujarat

New Zealand’s police have opened a criminal investigation.

Reportedly, the amount of methamphetamine in each sweet was up to 300 times the level someone would usually take and could be lethal, as per New Zealand Drug Foundation – a drug checking and policy organisation. The organisation first tested the sweets.

Disguising drugs as innocuous goods was a common cross-border smuggling technique, said Ben Birks Ang, a Foundation spokesperson. He also added that the sweets might have been distributed throughout New Zealand.

Birks Ang said the sweets had a high street value of NZ$1,000 (US$608) per lolly, which suggest that the donation by an unknown member of the public was accidental rather than a deliberate attack, as reported by The Guardian.

Also Read : US Arrests “El Mayo” Zambada, ‘World’s Biggest Drug Lord’

The charity’s food bank only accepts donations of commercially produced food in sealed packaging. The sweets, which appeared to be of pineapple flavoured, and stamped with the label of Malaysian brand Rinda, “appeared as such when they were donated”, arriving in a retail-sized bag, said Robinson.

General manager of Rinda, Steven Teh said that, “We want to make it clear that Rinda Food Industries does not use or condone the use of any illegal drugs in our products”.

Some of those who received the food parcel were clients of the charity’s addiction service. The news that drug has been distributed had provoked distress. “To say that we are devastated is an understatement,” said Robinson.