drugs
“Blue Punisher” has been around in some places for a long time
Depending on their origin, ecstasy pills of the “Blue Punisher” variety can have completely different compositions. photo
© Ennio Leanza/Keystone/dpa
Blue-colored ecstasy with a skull and crossbones: According to experts, even taking less than one “Blue Punisher” pill can lead to an overdose. The variant of the drug is not new in Germany.
A 13-year-old dies – presumably from a high dose ecstasy pill. It is said to be the “Blue Punisher” variant, which according to the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) is not a separate drug, but a logo or motif of an ecstasy tablet. According to a survey by the German Press Agency, “Blue Punisher” has been around in some parts of Germany for a long time.
According to the State Criminal Police Office in North Rhine-Westphalia, a total of 4,246 tablets with this embossed motif were seized in 2021, and 2,761 tablets in 2022. This year 9 tablets were confiscated. According to the BKA, tablets with the “Punisher” logo can come from different sources and have a completely different composition. Studies in NRW also showed that the MDMA content ranged from 58 to 211 milligrams per pill.
In Hesse, in 2022, “Blue Punisher” pills “in the lower double-digit range” were seized, said a spokeswoman for the State Criminal Police Office in Wiesbaden.
As the State Criminal Police Office in Hanover announced, the drug has also been known there for a long time. Tablets of this type are regularly examined for active substance content under the generic term ecstasy. The LKA in Lower Saxony has not yet found any information about deaths or serious illnesses in connection with “Blue Punisher”. With regard to consumers, experience has shown that it is primarily young people who take ecstasy.
The drug is also in circulation in Saxony. The forensic technology in the State Criminal Police Office (LKA) had been presented with around 200 tablets this year, the LKA said. Here, too, it was found that the content of the active ingredient MDMA fluctuated greatly, despite the same imprint “Punisher”. Therein lies the danger of these pills, it said.