A Ronald McDonald House charity worker is recovering in hospital after consuming methamphetamine disguised as a lolly.
The nonprofit organisation provides accommodation and support for families whose children are in hospital.
Two families in their Auckland facility had received the lollies in food parcels from the Auckland City Mission, CEO Wayne Howett told Stuff this afternoon.
While none of the families had consumed the sweets, a charity worker was taken to hospital after becoming unwell.
“We are supporting them throughout this process and are pleased to say that they are recovering,” Howett said.
It has been confirmed 428 Auckland City Mission food parcels possibly contained the meth disguised as lollies. (Source: 1News)
The Auckland City Mission confirmed earlier today that approximately 428 people may have received a food parcel containing the lollies.
Police said 31 blocks of methamphetamine disguised as Rinda branded lollies have been recovered so far as an investigation continues into how they came to be donated to the Auckland food bank. An additional block has since been recovered this afternoon.
“We can confirm 16 whānau have advised us they received the lollies and have been offered guidance as to appropriate next steps,” the Mission said in an update this afternoon.
The suspect lollies were originally donated by an unknown member of the public in a sealed retail-sized bag, according to the Mission.
Chief executive Helen Robinson yesterday acknowledged there may be more than one packet in circulation.
‘Funny-tasting lollies’
A spokesperson said the charity received an alert of concern on Tuesday afternoon after a food parcel recipient said they had eaten some “funny-tasting lollies”.
Drug Foundation executive director Sarah Helm said the lozenge wrapped in the Rinda brand’s packaging contained approximately 3g of methamphetamine.
“A common dose to swallow is between 10-25mg, so this contaminated lolly contained up to 300 doses. Swallowing that much methamphetamine is extremely dangerous and could result in death.”
In an update this afternoon, Detective Inspector Glenn Baldwin said police had recovered 31 blocks of methamphetamine disguised as branded lollies.
“Additionally, police are in the process of recovering a further meth lolly this afternoon, which would bring this total to 32.”
He said initial inquiries suggested a further six to eight lollies had already been disposed of by families who received parcels.
“Based off this information it would suggest that up to 40 lollies have been accounted for overall,” Baldwin said.
Police say the ‘Rinda’ brand pineapple sweets may have been distributed in grocery boxes from the Auckland City Mission over the past several weeks. (Source: 1News)
Officers were not aware of any additional phone calls being received this afternoon, and thanked the public who had responded strongly to the inquiry.
He said the operation would also continue to investigate an earlier report made about a lolly being advertised for sale on Facebook Marketplace.
“The investigation team acknowledges the information that has come through with people reporting they have some of the disguised lollies.
“Detectives have attended these reports overnight to secure the items and remove them from circulation.”
Police said the circulation of the lolly-wrapped contraband appeared to be limited to Auckland with 13 recovered across the region overnight.
“Police will work quickly to secure any of the items out in the community but, equally, part of the puzzle is working out how many may still be out there.”
At least four seek medical attention
A child from Glenfield has been taken for precautionary medical checks, bringing the number of people who have sought medical attention to four.
“They had initially tasted the lolly and spat it out, but it is fortunate they did not require hospitalisation,” Baldwin said.
A child and a teenager had also tried the lollies before spitting them out. They, along with a charity worker, sought medical assistance.
The child and teenager were both reported to be well and the charity worker was discharged overnight.
Baldwin said it was “frightening” that children were being caught up in the incident.
“I want to reiterate how important it is we get these lollies out of circulation.”
‘Incredibly, deeply concerning’ – Luxon
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has called the situation unfolding in Auckland “incredibly, deeply concerning”.
Luxon spoke to reporters from Sydney, where the Prime Minister is taking part in a series of political and business engagements over two days at the annual Leaders’ Meeting.
“All of us are quite horrified by that story and incredibly worried about public safety,” he said.
“I appreciate the police have an investigation up and running about how it’s happening, but the thing right now is that everybody needs to be safe.”
While police are continuing to investigate, Luxon advised people to “please, please, please, check, check, check that actually what you’re feeding your children is safe and make sure that you are aware of what these lollies are and what they look like so that you can actually remove them”.
“The police can do the investigation on how the hell it actually happened, but the bigger issue right now is public safety and making sure everyone’s well aware of it.”
Listing on Marketplace offers one of the ‘lollies’
Baldwin said police were investigating a report of someone attempting to sell one of the methamphetamine lollies online using Facebook Marketplace.
“We are taking this report very seriously, but enquiries are in the early stages.
“Dealing a Class A drug is a serious offence, and we will not tolerate this.”
He said the right thing to do was to hand in the items and that anyone who had received the lollies had “done nothing wrong”.
“I acknowledge those who have contacted us so quickly and helped us get these dangerous items out of circulation.”
Police have made preliminary contact with the Rinda company in Malaysia with initial inquiries, Baldwin said.
“They have been cooperative with our investigation, and we will work with them.”
He said police were keeping an “open mind” about how the methamphetamine came to be packaged.
“One avenue of enquiry is importation into New Zealand, and part of our work will be to understand methodologies.”
Anyone who had one of the Rinda-branded lozenges, or information about their origin, should contact 111 or 105.
