Lethal powder the first of kind in Europe
The EU drugs agency told the Irish Examiner yesterday it was not aware of any previous reports of a powdered version of the drug.
A scientist with the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction said while there had been reports of tablets combining the substances, the agency had not previously encountered a powder form.
“A powder containing MDMA and PMMA has not been reported to us. We have seen PMMA and MDMA in tablet form,” said Michael Evans-Brown, scientific analyst at the Lisbon-based centre.
He said it was possible the powder combination had been found in a member state but not reported.
The agency operates an early warning system for new substances and is fed reports by national agencies of new trends. The same information is sent to the EU police agency Europol.
Gardaí are awaiting toxicology results from the autopsies conducted on Michael Coleman and Liam Coffey, both 22, who were found dead at a house in Kinsale, Co Cork, last Sunday. Gardaí said it was “most likely” the men died from ingesting the powder.
The powder was crystalline in form and brown in colour. This is unusual given MDMA and PMMA, even when mixed with other stimulants, are white or off white in colour.
Mr Evans-Brown, who specialises in new drugs, said PMMA was a “particularly harmful drug”. He said some member states had reported finding it on its own, or combined with other substances, including MDMA, in tablet form.
A spokesman for Europol told the Irish Examiner that PMMA emerged in 2000 and led to more than 20 fatalities, resulting in its prohibition across the EU in 2002. He said it “virtually disappeared” until 2010.
Mr Evans-Brown said in recent years PMMA was also turning up in legal highs, suggesting organised gangs were involved.
Gardaí in Cork have traced the supply of the powder back to the main ecstasy dealer in Cork City and are trying to trace its movements before then.
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