After death
Liquid ecstasy instead of champagne in a bottle – authorities warn: “One sip can be deadly”
Instead of champagne, several 3-liter bottles contained the drug MDMA.
© Sergei Bobylev / Picture Alliance
There has already been one death, and authorities are now officially warning of the danger that could currently be lurking in some champagne bottles from “Moët & Chandon” – liquid ecstasy. Even the touch is “life-threatening”.
One person has already died and several others have suffered symptoms of poisoning because they unknowingly drank liquid drugs instead of champagne. Authorities in Germany and the Netherlands are now calling for particular caution. Because there could be more such bottles with MDMA, also known as ecstasy, in circulation. Just touching and/or drinking the contents of the bottle is “life-threatening”, warns the Federal Office for Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL).
The warning refers explicitly to champagne from the “Moët & Chandon Ice Impérial” brand in a 3-liter format with the product number LAJ7QAB6780004. It was recently discovered in both countries that a bottle of this size had been filled with the drug. From the outside, these bottles are no different from those filled with champagne. According to Lebensmittelarning.de, consumers can still orientate themselves on several telltale clues. That way the liquid in the glass doesn’t bubble up. In addition, the MDMA has a reddish-brown color that darkens over time. In addition, the liquid smells of anise.
“One sip can kill”
“Leave the bottle untouched if the contents deviate from what is customary for champagne,” it says warning. And above all, the liquid should not be tasted under any circumstances. “Even dipping a fingertip in the liquid and tasting it can cause serious health problems even without swallowing it. Taking a small sip can be fatal.”
A bottle in this format, which contained the drug instead of champagne, was discovered in both Germany and the Netherlands. In Germany, according to the information, one person has died and seven have become seriously ill. According to the Dutch Food Authority (NVWA), four people have been injured so far.
Are drug smugglers behind this?
Both previously known bottles were therefore bought via an unidentified website, the manufacturer Moët Hennessy had informed the authorities. It is not known how the drug got into the bottles. It is therefore not possible to assess whether there are more bottles of the drug in circulation. The company announced on Friday that it was not “a quality problem, but a criminal case”. There have long been suspicions that it could be drug smuggling.
Anyone who does not trust a champagne bottle can be read on the Lebensmittelwarnung.de website, should leave it untouched and inform the police. People who have received the liquid should call emergency services immediately.