New Zealand Charity Accidentally Gives Away Meth Disguised as Candy

The police in New Zealand were trying on Wednesday to recover chunks of methamphetamine that a local charity accidentally gave out because they were disguised as candy.

The fake candy distributed by the charity, Auckland City Mission, looked like individually wrapped, pineapple flavored boiled sweets from the Malaysian confectionary brand Rinda. They had been donated by a member of the public, according to Helen Robinson, the charity’s chief executive.

They were actually small blocks of methamphetamine. Each weighed about three grams (0.1 ounce) and packed up to 300 doses of the drug, according to Ben Birks Ang, the deputy executive director of the New Zealand Drug Foundation, which examined the methamphetamine. That is a potentially lethal quantity.

Three people — a worker at the charity, a child and a teenager — sought medical attention after tasting the candy but were all discharged, the Auckland City District Police said.

At least eight families reported tasting the fake candies, Ms. Robinson said. Luckily, they tasted so bad that those who ate them immediately spat them out, minimizing the effects, she said. But because of their high dosage, even a small touch or lick could be dangerous.

Symptoms of eating the fake sweets could include chest pains, seizures, hyperthermia, delirium and loss of consciousness, according to the New Zealand Drug Foundation.