It’s being reported that Police in Independence, Missouri are warning shoppers at a local discount store to check their purchases. Somehow several Barbie dolls found at the store were contaminated with fentanyl. On Saturday (3/21) Police were notified by security at the Cargo Largo that some Barbies had come into contact with the drug.
One customer brought back the packaging for one of the dolls. There was a visible powder found beneath the tape. After testing the powder they confirmed that it came back positive for fentanyl, a growing concern in many places including Missouri. What’s more is that the packaging seemed to have been tampered with, so this wasn’t from the Mattel factory, it was someone in between. The Drug Indictment Unit was called in to investigate.
Jade Adams, one of the consumers who purchased a contaminated Barbie, was shocked by the findings. Adams told Nexstar’s WDAF that opening the doll was the initial indicator that something was wrong.
“When [Adams’ husband] opened it with a knife, it was like, poof, in the car,”
“We were like, ‘What is that?’”
Adams
She knew something had to be done to ensure the safety of others after discovering the drug attached to the doll. Instead of sitting and doing nothing about it she went right back to the Cargo Largo and piled all the suspected contaminated Barbies into a cart. She rolled them all up to security and told them to check them out.
“They could have dusted that all over themselves, their house, wherever they opened it,”
“Like, it’s not just me, it’s really just the kids for me. That’s my baby, that’s my last baby, that’s terrifying.”
Adams
Five of the contaminated Barbie dolls were sold before anyone had noticed the issue. Luckily, all of them have been recovered. At this time there is no evidence that these dolls were sold to any other retailers. No injuries have been reported. The Police also mentioned that this is a common tactic used by drug cartels and smugglers. They will put the substance in a seemingly harmless object for transportation.
The investigation is still ongoing.
