Pills could be dangerous concoction

Further arrests overnight by the Operation Ark team have resulted in 22 people charged in the Auckland District Court with drug offences.

Officer in charge of Operation Ark, Detective Inspector Bruce Good, says some of the pills recovered in the course of the ongoing investigation are linked to recent hospital admissions where patients had to be sedated because they suffered seizures and displayed extreme violence.

"Those who've been manufacturing such pills have regularly modified the molecular structure of various compounds and, by so doing, created dangerous substances that have been sold as ecstasy.

"My advice to anyone considering buying or consuming what they think is ecstasy is, don't do it. Some of the product we've investigated and seized has been made alongside rat poison."

Police recovered eight pill presses yesterday, along with seven firearms, millions of dollars of high value vehicles [see attached pic] and properties.