Mystery drug circulating in KZN a killer
A mystery drug police say is ecstasy based has been circulating in Kwazulu-Natal and has racked up scores of casualties over the past several weeks.
Image sourced from news24: This is not an exact photo of the drug.
According to a News24 drug report the mystery drug has killed ‘almost a dozen people’ and left many more hospitalized including some very young kids.
The mystery drug is white and resembles an ecstasy pill but strangely has a piece of metal running thought the core of the tablet. The street name includes ‘Mercedes’, ‘Mitsubishi’ and ‘Lacoste.’
According to Pietermaritzburg police spokesperson Sergeant Mthokozisi Ngobese he knows of at least 9 fatal casualties including 4 in Pietermaritzburg, 1 in Isipingo and 4 others in KwaMashu.
Further to that 26 people were admitted to Edendale Hospital in one weekend about 3 weeks ago when the pill first hit the streets
This mystery drug is said to be a stronger than average version of Ecstasy which gives the user such an extreme and prolonged rush that the organs become exhausted.
“A lot of youngsters are being admitted to public and private hospitals, showing that the drug is widespread across all demographics. I interviewed doctors who said that the weekends — when the drug is often consumed — are especially bad,” Ngobese said.
A task team has been set up to tackle this problem and to deal with this dangerous new mystery drug.
Even the Health MEC Sibongiseni Dhlomo has got involved by urging parents to watch their kids closely after 23 pupils were admitted to Pietermaritzburg hospitals for drug overdoses over the Easter holidays.
Various other online articles by newspapers have given varied reports to the severity of the problem, so it’s not 100% sure just how bad it is; either way just don’t drop a pill with a piece of metal in it, that’s for sure!
Sadly this new killer mystery pill, which sounds like a badly made Ecstasy pill is another reminder why recreational drugs should be managed and pill-testing introduced. The biggest danger is that kids are buying these from dodgy dealers in an unsavoury and illicit world that has no quality control whatsoever.
