A NEW heroin concoction circulating in Richards Bay contains drain cleaner, a Johannesburg laboratory has found.
Results indicate the ingredient, which contains highly poisonous sodium hydroxide, was used as a drying agent in the drug.
Samples of the heroin was sent to the lab nearly two weeks ago by the Meerensee Community Police Forum’s (CPF) Domestic Abuse Task Team after members came to the aid of several drug users who had overdosed and showed signs of having been poisoned.
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‘We are still awaiting results for other ingredients, but drain cleaner attacks red blood cells and haemoglobin responsible for transporting oxygen in the blood, so victims cannot get enough oxygen,’ said the CPF’s Corrie Pretorius.
Poisoning from the cleaner could also result in severe abdominal pain, loss of vision, rapid drop in blood pressure, burns and tissue damage and bloody vomit.
Drug dealers in Zululand often bulk up drugs, particularly whoonga, with cleaning detergents and rat poison to make it cheaper to peddle.
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