New Zealand Police identify 41 candies tainted with methamphetamine

Aug. 16 (UPI) -- New Zealand Police said Friday they had identified 41 pieces of methamphetamine disguised as candy after news first broke that one family found one with a suspected lethal amount of meth delivered to the Auckland City Mission.

While no new tainted Rinda "lollies" were identified overnight, New Zealand Detective Inspector Glenn Baldwin said , there were also no new phone calls about the candies and no additional hospitalizations were reported.

Baldwin said the 41 lollies consisted of candy pieces recovered by police and suspicious lollies thrown out by families.

"This aspect of the investigation is still ongoing, as well as understanding how the methamphetamine concealed as Rinda lollies arrived at Auckland City Mission," Baldwin said.

Earlier this week, the New Zealand Drug Foundation issued a "high alert" after consumers brought one of their Rinda candy lollies to them after consuming part of it and started to feel unusual. They learned later that the candy was laced with a potentially deadly dose of methamphetamine.

Baldwin said since then, Operation Tirade had identified other lollies that contained methamphetamine. He said some of the tainted lollies may have been thrown away by families that discarded them after initially consuming them and noticing the unusual taste.

"Police are in the process of following up with families," Baldwin said. "We are still working to understand how many lollies they received, but initial inquiries suggest they received three on average."