A charity for homeless people in New Zealand's Auckland unknowingly distributed "meth" candies in its food parcels after the sweets were donated by someone from the public.
Auckland City Mission told reporters that it began contacting around 400 people to track down the parcels that contain the sweets, which are blocks of methamphetamine in candy wrappers.
A criminal investigation into the matter has been opened by the New Zealand police. An official said that "police are treating the matter as a priority given the risk to the public".
According to the New Zealand Drug Foundation -- a drug checking and policy organisation -- which first tested the candies, the amount of meth in each of them was up to 300 times the level someone would usually take, adding that it could be lethal.
Sarah Helm, foundation spokesperson, told AFP, "Swallowing that much methamphetamine is extremely dangerous and could result in death."
Another spokesperson of the Foundation, Ben Birks Ang, said that concealing drugs as harmless or edible goods was a common practice in cross-border smuggling. Ang said that more such candies might have been distributed across New Zealand.
However, the spokesperson said that the sweets had a high street value of NZ $1,000 ($608) per candy, which indicated that the donation was probably more accidental than a deliberate attack.
City Missioner Helen Robinson said that as many as eight families including at least one child had reported consuming the candies since Tuesday. However, no one was hospitalised as Robinson said that the "revolting" taste must have prompted most of the people to spit out the candy immediately.
Robinson however warned that one "could have only a very small touch or lick of the substance and still be deeply affected".
She noted that the charity's food bank only accepts donations of commercially produced food in sealed packaging. The pineapple candies -- with the label of a Malaysian brand 'Rinda' -- appeared as such "they were donated", in a retail-sized bag.
A food bank client reported the "funny-tasting" candy, alerting the Auckland City Mission about it on Tuesday. Some of the remaining candies were tasted by the staff, who then immediately contacted the authorities.
The candies had reportedly been donated sometime in the last six weeks and it remained unclear as to how many had been distributed during this time and how many of them were made of methamphetamine.
Some of the people, who received food parcels through the food bank, were clients of the city's addiction services and the news of 'meth' candies triggered distress among them.
"To say that we are devastated is an understatement," Helen Robinson was quoted as saying by The Associated Press.
Notably, methamphetamine -- commonly known as 'meth' -- is a powerful, highly addictive stimulant that affects the central nervous system. The drug takes the form of a white, odorless, bitter-tasting crystalline powder that easily dissolves in water or alcohol.
Meanwhile, the Malaysian brand Rinda, whose label was on the candies, did not immediately issue any statements.
