A 5-year-old boy got a little more than he bargained for when he opened a Kinder Surprise Egg that he happened upon while playing outside.
Instead of stickers or a small toy inside this wildly popular kids’ product, he found crystal meth.
According to the Daily Star, a pair of UK brothers discovered the yellow, plastic shell of a Kinder Surprise Egg in a hedge. But when they opened it, they found a bag of white powder.
Thankfully, the boys showed the bag of powder to their father, who turned it into the police. Officers confirmed the powder was indeed methamphetamine.
“In this instance the children are to be commended for passing the contents to their parents,” Limavady DUP councilor Alan Robinson told the Daily Star.
“This weekend the Limavady community could have been learning about a tragedy and I therefore make a community appeal asking for vigilance.”
Stories like this serve as great motivators for parents to talk with young kids about not trusting toys or candy they happen to find or that is given to them by someone they don’t know. By teaching children to bring unknown items directly to mom, dad or the caregiver in charge at the time, parents can protect kids hidden dangers in seemingly harmless items.
Kinder Surprise Eggs are understandably popular with young children. Inside a hollow chocolate egg, is a plastic capsule containing a variety of possibilities — usually a toy featuring one their favorite TV or movie characters. Adding to the lure of the product are thousands of YouTube videos of the eggs being opened to reveal the surprise within.
So what was crystal meth doing inside something meant for a child, anyway? Was someone purposefully targeting children as part of some horrible crime? This community may never find out these answers. But one thing’s for sure: It’s so lucky these boys realized there was something fishy about the white powder. They could have easily ingested the drug, thinking it was sugary candy — and the outcome could have been deadly.