Auckland City Mission, a New Zealand-based food bank, unknowingly gave members of the public candies laced with methamphetamine, The Associated Press (AP) reported Tuesday.
The charitable organization focused on homelessness contacted up to 400 people to track them down after three people were hospitalized from ingesting the drugged sweets, the outlet reported. The hospitalized victims were discharged after being treated, New Zealand authorities said. (RELATED: Authorities Seize Drugs Concealed In Frozen Food At Southern Border)
New Zealand food bank distributes candy made from a potentially lethal amount of methamphetamine https://t.co/hd3FGPx02M
— The Associated Press (@AP) August 14, 2024
The level of methamphetamine found in the 16 pieces of Rinda candy recovered by police was potentially fatal, the New Zealand Drug Foundation said, according to the AP. Ben Birks Ang, a foundation spokesperson, told the outlet that lacing otherwise innocuous goods with drugs was a common smuggling tactic. Ang estimated that the laced sweets held a street value of $608 a piece.
Ang also said that the unknown donator who provided the sweets to charity was probably unaware of its drug content. A client alerted Auckland City Mission to the problem Tuesday, saying the candy was “funny-tasting.” The charity staff then sampled the candies themselves, The AP reported.
A staff member was one of the hospitalized victims. Detective Inspector Glenn Baldwin told the AP that the other two persons hospitalized for the tainted goods were a child and a “young person.”
The City Missioner, Helen Robinson, told the outlet that she did not know how many sweets were distributed by her organization and how many of them were tainted with methamphetamine.
“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 told the AP.