‘Spiked’ drinks leave friends hospitalised
A 32-year-old Nigerian man was arrested and was charged for drug dealing.
A day out drinking with friends turned into a nightmare for a Westcliff man after their drinks were allegedly laced with a new synthetic street drug called ‘Flakka’ at a bar in Pinetown on October 28, Chartsworth Rising Sun reports.
Brandon Naidoo* (24) was stabilised at Life Chatsmed Hospital and later transferred to RK Khan Hospital, where he was hospitalised for three days, while his friends, Denzil Govender* (21) and Pravesh Pillay* (26) were also admitted following bizarre behaviour, agitation, frothing from the mouth and paranoia.
After they were treated and stabilised, Naidoo’s family members notified a member of the Metro Police Rapid Response Unit, who assisted with setting up a joint operation with the National Intervention Unit and the Metro Police Dog Unit to apprehend the dealer of the deadly new drug.
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A 32-year-old Nigerian man was arrested during the operation, and was charged for dealing in the drug (Flakka). Speaking about the horrific ordeal, Naidoo, the father of a three-year-old boy, said that this was the worst thing that ever happened to him.
“We went to the bar at around 2pm and shortly after ordering a round of ciders, the bar owner came over and told us to purchase a fish bowl, which is a cocktail of drinks served in a round bowl. After much convincing, we ordered the fish bowl and after consuming its contents, the next thing we knew was that we woke up in hospital, and it was Sunday. We were robbed of our cash, amounting to over R8 000 collectively, and valuables,” he explained.
Naidoo added” “We were told by our friends, neighbours and family members that we behaved bizarrely. All three of us were climbing trees, walls and hallucinating. I vaguely remember seeing my friends frothing. I didn’t know that I was also frothing at the time. I could see that they were in trouble, but I could not react to help them and they said they felt the same,” he said.
Naidoo further stated when his wife arrived at the hospital, he could not control his actions and bit her hand so hard a chunk of her flesh fell off.
“Pravesh suffers from asthma, and he has a heart condition and he normally doesn’t consume alcohol or even smoke. He tasted the alcohol from the fish bowl which we thought will have a minimal percentage of alcohol in it. He was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit [ICU] and the effects of the drug caused him to stop breathing.
“The doctor pronounced him dead. His body was covered and his family was notified, but before they could reach the hospital, he started breathing. Doctors were shocked, and also could not believe what had happened. He was released from hospital after five days,” added Naidoo.
Tests were conducted on the three men and members of the Metro Police Rapid Response Unit confirmed that doctors found that battery acid, gunpowder, chlorine, a date rape drug, strong pain medication, cocaine and bath salts, which is not the regular bathing bath salts, but a drug that is chemically similar to stimulant chemicals like cocaine or amphetamines.
All ingredients were confirmed to have been components of Flakka. Flakka has been responsible for hundreds of deaths in other parts of the world, and Naidoo believes that there are other dealers who are selling the drug.
“Once this drug hits the streets on a large scale, all hope will be lost. People thought that the drugs, Sugars or Whoonga were bad, but this is much worse. I hope residents are educated by my ordeal and refrain from trying these new drugs,” he said.
*Names have been changed to protect the identity of the victims.
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