Meth-tainted drink and tortillas?

25 treated in San Luis R.C. for poisoning caused by possible contamination

As many as 25 people were being treated in San Luis Rio Colorado, Son., this week for methamphetamine poisoning possibly caused by consuming tainted drinks or food, according to newspapers in the Mexican border city.

Daniel De La Paz, the city’s public health director, said the patients range in age from 9 to 45 and all are residents of Colonia Mezquite, a neighborhood on the city’s south side, the newspapers La Cronica and Noticias reported.

They were being treated the city’s General Hospital or at various medical clinics after complaining of dizziness, nausea, vomiting, insomnia, anxiety and internal pain, he told the newspapers. Some of the patients said they experienced the symptoms after drinking bottled sodas or eating corn tortillas.

Those admitted to General Hospital underwent testing that confirmed the presence of methamphetamine, the newspapers said.

De La Paz could not be reached for comment Thursday by Bajo El Sol, the Yuma Sun’s Spanish edition. Some of those admitted for treatment have since been released. No deaths were reported.

Symptoms experienced by the San Luis Rio Colorado were similar to those experienced in 2017 by residents in and around Mexicali, Baja Calif., who consumed soda pop later determined to be contaminated by methamphetamine.

The latest cases of methamphetamine poisoning are under investigation by Sonora state health officials. The probe is focusing on a tortilla shop and several markets in Colonia Mezquite thought to have been patronized by the patients, the newspapers said.

In May, 24 high school students in Poblado Coahuila, a community near Mexicali, Baja Calif., suffered methamphetamine poisoning later traced to a container from which all had drawn water during a school function.

Last September, a 33-year-old man died in a farming community south of Mexicali after consuming a bottle of 7-Up later determined to be contaminated with methamphetamine.

That case prompted officials to order the removal of 77,000 bottles of 7-Up from the store shelves. The case remains under investigation by the state prosecutor’s office.

Also in December, 8,000 bottles of Manzanita Sol were pulled from shelves in Mexicali. That came after a 16-year-old girl was hospitalized after drinking that brand of soda pop. A urine sample showed traces of methamphetamine in her system, health officials said at the time.