Man charged with importing 3g blocks of meth disguised as lollies

A year has passed since a serious national health alert was launched: lollies laced with methamphetamine had been distributed in food parcels by the Auckland City Mission. Lives were in danger - but whose? The hunt was on. Neil Reid spoke to those who led the response on that first dangerous day.

There were many frantic phone calls made on the afternoon it was discovered meth-laced lollies had been distributed by the Auckland City Mission. One of those calls may have saved a life.

It was August 13, 2024 and the NZ Drug Foundation, police and the mission were in overdrive.

They’d just realised that what appeared to be Rinda brand pineapple-flavoured lollies were actually small blocks of pressed methamphetamine in sweet wrappers. They’d been handed out to hungry households by the charity on the front line of poverty and homeless care in Auckland.

Each small package contained 3g of 100% pure methamphetamine - the equivalent of 300 doses. Each had an estimated street value of $1500. The Drug Foundation rushed out an alert that swallowing one “could result in death”.

The Auckland City Mission was blindsided. It had received the two sealed bags of lollies as a donation and added the treats to food parcels - an act of kindness they now feared could lead to tragedy.

“They worked furiously” recalls Drug Foundation executive director Sarah Helm of City Mission staff.

“They had been on the phone to somebody as one of the lollies was going into somebody’s mouth,” she said.

What the toxic lollies looked like with the yellow Rinda-brand wrapper removed. Photo / Supplied

“That’s just how close it was. It’s possible that a life was saved just in that moment.”

An arrest

Police have not yet directly linked anyone to the suspicious lollies at the centre of the incident.

But following an Official Information Act request, police told the Herald they have charged a man in relation to importing 3g blocks of meth disguised as Rinda brand lollies.

He was identified during an independent National Organised Crime Group investigation.

“There is insufficient evidence at this time to link this person to the meth lollies distributed in Auckland City Mission food parcels” detective sergeant Ilona Walton told the Herald in a statement.

“The individual who has been charged in relation to other importing charges is a 32-year-old male.”

He is next due to appear in the Auckland District Court in April 2026 on charges that include importing a class A controlled drug.

A “crisis situation”

The Auckland City Mission was the first agency to realise something was wrong that day - someone phoned them to say the lollies tasted acrid.

Shortly after 2pm staff tried the lollies and complained of their “bitter taste” and side effects.

The Mission contacted the Drug Foundation at 2.20pm and a sample was delivered to its Auckland office for testing within minutes.

Drug Foundation executive director Sarah Helm said lives were at risk and time was of the essence. Photo /Supplied

At 3.20pm - within an hour of concern first being raised - test results showed the apparent lollies were in fact pure methamphetamine.

“One of my team, who’s a science adviser, [worked] out one of those lollies would most likely kill somebody,” Helm said.

It’s a moment Helm told the Herald she and her team will not forget.

“I do remember that call and the feeling very well,” she said.

“It was very tense and [there was] real gravity in the situation because occasionally you get a situation where there’s an obvious potential for a big loss of life, and it was one of those. You’ve got a real sense of responsibility.”

The meth lollies were in food parcels prepared and distributed by the Auckland City Mission. It launched a full-scale rescue operation when it realised what had happened. Photo / Dean Purcell

Police were notified, and launched Operation Tirade.

The Drug Foundation contacted Auckland hospitals to put them on notice - as well as toxicology departments, the New Zealand Poisons Centre and the Hato Hone St John ambulance service.

Urgency was key to potentially saving lives, Helm said.

The Auckland City Mission worked to rapidly contact all recipients of the food parcels.

The Drug Foundation sent out a media statement to newsrooms at 8pm and issued social media alerts.

In the release, Helm said each lolly had the equivalent of 300 doses of the Class A drug, and swallowing one could result in death.

It was unclear how many of the lollies were out there. The Drug Foundation recommended “not eating any Rinda brand pineapple lollies if you have them”.

Police National Headquarters in Wellington released a statement saying the matter was a “priority given the risk to the public”.

How the pure blocks of meth were packaged. Photo / Supplied

A year on

Detective Sergeant Ilona Walton told the Herald police ultimately recovered 34 and a half meth lollies.

Six people who received the contaminated food parcels told police they had thrown a combined 15 of the lollies away.

City Mission staff had also thrown some away but couldn’t recall how many.

Despite reviewing CCTV footage at a drop-off centre, police have not been able to “directly link” anyone to the source of the toxic sweets.

“Could be a fatal dosage”

Helm barely slept that first night, and August 14 started with a series of phone calls to brief Auckland MPs and the Minister of Health.

A press conference was held at the Auckland City Mission at 11am.

Detective Inspector Glenn Baldwin holds up a photo of the Rinda-branded meth-laced lollies found in food parcels given to needy families. Photo / Alex Burton

They announced eight families had discovered the meth lollies in their care packages.

Two children had tried them - and spat them out - lucky escapes for the teen and preschooler.

A charity worker – who received some of the food parcels for families they were helping - was taken to hospital after trying a lolly and feeling unwell. They were later discharged.

In a statement, the Mission said “to say we are devastated is an understatement”.

Helm says communication with the public was a balancing act. They needed to convey gravity without creating panic. She said she remains proud of everyone involved.

Ben Birks Ang from the NZ Drug Foundation addressed the media the day after the potentially deadly discovery was made. Photo / Corey Fleming

Handed to police, spat out, thrown away

On average, two packets of Rinda lollies contain around 60 sweets.

Six days into the incident, police revealed up to 75 wrapped meth blocks could be circulating.

That number would have a combined street value of about $112,500.

By that stage, they had recovered 32 meth lollies and had also started looking into a claim a man was trying to sell one via Facebook Marketplace.

The tally of people requiring hospital treatment grew to four.

Some of the food parcels containing the meth lollies were distributed to families staying at Ronald McDonald House. Photo / Doug Sherring

Police contacted the Malaysia-based Rinda lolly company, which provided a sample packet of legitimate Rinda lollies.

Police told the Herald Rinda was fully co-operative during the probe.

Where did they come from?

One of the most frequently asked questions after the discovery of the meth lollies, and in the weeks afterwards, was just how they ended up at the Auckland City Mission.

Was it a deliberate act of attempted poisoning?

The discovery of pure meth blocks disguised as lollies that were distributed in food parcels handed out by the Auckland City Mission unleashed fears someone might die after consuming one. New Zealand Herald composite photo

Walton said police do not believe so.

“This belief is based on accounts provided by persons who inadvertently tasted a ‘meth lolly’ reporting that due to the chemical taste their reflex action was to spit it out immediately,” Walton said.

“This belief is further supported by the high street value of the methamphetamine contained in the methamphetamine lollies.”

Helm agrees the donation was probably innocent.

“Sometimes when somebody’s cleared out of a space, they leave stuff behind, maybe voluntarily or involuntarily,” she said.

The NZ Drug Foundation suspects the meth lollies were left behind when someone left a property in a hurry, then dropped off innocently by a person who found them. Photo / Supplied

“And maybe in that clean-up somebody’s gone and thought they had a bag of lollies and dropped it off to the mission to donate it.

“And it’s obviously turned out to be something else. That was our hypothesis.”

Helm said it was “quite common” for drug runners to try and smuggle meth and other illegal substances across borders in food or drink packaging.

Overseas busts have included drugs found in canned tomatoes, tortilla chips, cucumbers, jalapenos, pineapples, doughnuts, frozen fish and in American fake carrots.

In New Zealand, drugs have been smuggled in hair products, children’s toys, arts antiquity, and a diamante-encrusted horse head.

One year on from the meth lolly incident, there is no certainty on how many existed - and how many may never be recovered.

But one thing is certain, Auckland City Mission’s “gratitude to everyone who rallied around us at that time”.

A spokeswoman told the Herald they were incredibly thankful to the Drug Foundation and police for “their immediate action”, as well as “our partner agencies for working with us to ensure people’s safety”.

“The wellbeing of those we serve was and remains our top priority. This incident reminded us of our reliance on the generosity and care of the public.

“We remain deeply grateful to all who stand with us in supporting Aucklanders in need.”

Neil Reid is a Napier-based senior reporter who covers general news, features and sport. He joined the Herald in 2014 and has 33 years of newsroom experience.

Sign up to The Daily H, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.