Festival-goers warned of deadly 'orange pill' after man's suspected overdose
An urgent text message has been sent out to festival-goers, warning them of deadly new drug currently in circulation, following a suspected overdose at a NSW festival over the weekend.
Joshua Tam, 22, was taken to Gosford Hospital about 8pm on Saturday after taking an unknown substance, while attending the Lost Paradise Festival at Glenworth Valley.
He died a short time later, while two others remain at the hospital in a stable condition.
A spokesperson for the festival said “this is a very distressing incident… Lost Paradise is a strictly drug-free event”.
Those attending the Falls Festival at four locations across Australia are now being warned of an “extremely dangerous orange pill”, with festival organisers driving home the point that “one pill can kill”.
“Regardless of pill variation, we want to remind everyone of the potentially fatal risks that come with illicit substances,” they warned.
“You do not know what is in them, how your body will react, there is no safe level of consumption.”
IMPORTANT SAFETY MESSAGE #fallsfestival pic.twitter.com/zgR9GI2KGN
— Falls Festival (@fallsofficial) December 30, 2018
‘Sophisticated’ methods to smuggle drugs
NSW Police Acting Superintendent Rod Peet revealed the “determination” of some of the festival’s 11,000 attendees to smuggle drugs.
“The methods of secretion are becoming sophisticated. People aren’t carrying them in their pockets, they aren’t that careless, they are calculated,” he told reporters in Gosford on Sunday.
“We’ve found drugs in Vegemite jars, aerosol containers, and in one instance, someone had stuffed drugs into the stuffing of a barbecue chicken.
“If [police] need to search more chickens to find drugs, they’ll be doing that.”
Supt. Peet warned illicit drugs are manufactured with risky products in “questionable” circumstances by people with little care for the users.
Three people have been charged with drug supply offences.
A 21-year-old man was charged after allegedly being found with 105 MDMA pills and a 23-year-old man was charged after allegedly being caught with 80 MDMA pills and 65 bags of cocaine.
Both men are due in Gosford Local Court on January 18.
