Worldwide alert over lethal ‘diet’ drug DNP

Interpol has issued a warning to 190 police forces across the world, including gardaí, in relation to 2,4-Dinitrophenol (DNP), which it describes as “an illicit and potentially lethal” drug used as a dieting and body-building aid.

The drug — which is also used as a base material in explosives — is sold illegally online and has been responsible for a number of deaths in recent years, most recently that of a 21-year-old English woman who took it in the form of slimming tablets last month.

Eloise Parry from Shrewsbury began feeling unwell at lunchtime on April 12, after taking the drugs, and died in hospital. Her mother said two tablets were a lethal dose and her daughter had accidentally taken eight.