Photo: Supplied / Sarita Kaukau
Police have found 29 methamphetamine "lollies" mistakenly distributed in food parcels by the Auckland City Mission.
The tablets, hidden in Rinda brand lolly wrappers, were seemingly donated to the City Mission before being mailed around the city.
Three people were hospitalised after consuming the "lollies", two of them children, and police say another child was taken for precautionary medical checks after tasting the lolly.
After finding 16 of the meth blocks on Wednesday, police located another 13 overnight.
"Detectives have attended these reports overnight to secure the items and remove them from circulation," Detective Inspector Glenn Baldwin said in a statement.
Detective Inspector Glenn Baldwin. Photo: RNZ / Calvin Samuel
All of the "lollies" have so far been found within the Auckland region. Of the 13 found overnight, six were in Counties Manukau and seven in Waitematā.
"Police will work quickly to secure any of the items out in the community, but equally part of the puzzle is working out how many may still be out there," Baldwin said.
Baldwin also confirmed police were aware of a Facebook Marketplace listing by an Aucklander claiming to have one of the fake sweets.
"We are taking this report very seriously, but inquiries are in the early stages," he said.
"Dealing a Class A drug is a serious offence, and we will not tolerate this."
Baldwin stressed that food parcel recipients who had inadvertently received meth would not be punished.
"Those who have inadvertently come into possession of these lollies through food parcels have done nothing wrong," Baldwin said.
"I acknowledge those who have contacted us so quickly and helped us get these dangerous items out of circulation."
He said Rinda, a Malaysian company, had been cooperating with police.
"We are keeping an open mind at this point about how the methamphetamine came to be packaged," he said.