Law enforcement authorities in the United Kingdom have issued an urgent warning following a string of deaths that are believed to have been caused by ecstasy (MDMA) pills.
Drug users who obtain ecstasy pills from vendors on the dark web have been warned to keep away from a certain brand of ecstasy listings that have automobile names.
According to recent reports, dark web vendors are selling the dangerous drugs mostly to teenagers in the U.K. The turbocharged MDMA tablets are named after car brands including Rolls Royce and Tesla.
The drugs are reportedly shipped from Amsterdam and Germany into the U.K., and teenagers can easily access them via darknet markets.
This is not the first time that U.K. law enforcement authorities have cautioned people against taking these types of drugs.
In October this year, a teenager died after collapsing while attending a Halloween rave party in Conwy, North Wales. He is believed to have taken the pink Rolls Royce ecstasy pills just before he became ill.
Rolls Royce is known to be a dangerous variant of ecstasy.
That same month, a 16-year-old Scottish teenager also passed away. The teenager is suspected to have consumed a dose of Red Bugatti Veyron or Purple Ninja Turtles.
A Scotland police spokesperson stated that the teenagers might have had access to the drugs via the dark web. At the time, law enforcement authorities urged the public to seek medical attention if they have consumed any of those brands of drugs.
Those who possessed the pills were advised not to take them.
The latest warning comes after a 19-year-old teenager suffered a cardiac arrest and brain seizure after consuming the Tesla tablets at a nightclub in Bristol.
These drug-induced deaths are a significant concern, as the dangerous car-themed drug items seem to be flooding the U.K. market. The drug dealers press the ecstasy pills in customized home labs or ship them from Amsterdam and Germany.
The naming of the ecstasy pills indicates that the vendors are actively targeting younger populations. The car-themed branding serves to attract teenagers. The dangerous part is that teenagers underestimate the strength of turbocharged illegal substances.
The dark web is awash with vendors selling these substances in the thousands, despite the recent death cases.
The dark web vendors flog the drugs in bulk and market them to teenage buyers. Some of the dealers utilize Royal Mail to move the items. The buyers pay for the pills in Bitcoin, which is sort of the currency that's most popular on darknet markets.
Reports reveal that there are 391 listings for the Tesla ecstasy pills on an unnamed darknet marketplace sold in a wide range of colors. There were also 398 listings for the dangerous pink Rolls Royce pills.
One vendor in the U.K. listed 15 blue Tesla ecstasy pills with 230 mg to 250 mg of MDMA for 55 pounds. The vendor admitted that the pills were much stronger than regular ecstasy pills.
The worrying factor is that dose strengths are not regulated due to the drug's illegal status. According to testing results from the EcstasyData independent laboratory, average ecstasy pills contain anywhere from 80 to 120 mg of MDMA.
Warnings about the drug, along with the relevant testing data, reveal that the brands with the highest MDMA dosages are the car-themed Tesla and Audi pills, which contain 235 mg and 260 mg of MDMA respectively.
The testing data shows that the ecstasy pills being peddled on the dark web are more than twice as high as the average drug.
Another vendor from the U.K. was listing five tablets for 22.5 pounds. The vendor stated that he had tried this product and found it too strong.
This vendor posted that he only required a half dose, confirming that the pills were indeed twice as strong as usual.
Another aspect that compounds the issue is the prices of the items for sale on darknet markets. Drug users can access these ecstasy pills at very low prices.
One U.K.-exclusive vendor listed five tablets for 20 pounds and another listed 25 Rolls Royce pills for 61.25 Pounds. German vendors listed even lower prices with one listing offering 50 pills for 95 pounds.
Given the fact that the U.K. tops the list of European countries with the highest number of online drug dealers, it could take a while before these dangerous drugs are off the market.
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