A well-known social media personality and a 43-year-old woman died after taking a suspected batch of cocaine mixed with heroin, police believe.
Cocaine has been linked to the deaths of Dunka Raymond Caldwell and Angel Mounce-Stephens, who died in Sydney on August 30.
Mr Caldwell, 30, known to his 60,000 followers as Humdinger was found dead at his Glebe home early this morning.
EM Mounce-Stephens, 43, was found at her Newtown home later that morning at around 8.45am.
NSW Police Strike Force Chatton has launched an investigation into the batch of contaminated drugs, believed to have been mixed with heroin and other opioids.
“Police are awaiting the results of the autopsy to determine the exact cause of their deaths,” a New South Wales Police spokesman said.
The deaths prompted an urgent warning from the NSW Health Department, which said two other people had been taken to hospital after overdosing on heroin that had been sold as cocaine.
Mr Caldwell’s death was greeted with sadness in his community of Glebe, where he had become a beloved local celebrity.
Dunka Raymond Caldwell and Angela Yazgan died of an opioid overdose in Sydney on August 30.
Mr Caldwell, 30, was found dead at his Glebe home in the early hours of the morning and Ms Mounce-Stephens, 43, was found at her Newtown home later that morning at 8.45am.
“We love you and miss you,” one person wrote online.
“I can’t believe this happened. We woke up to this news. How can you even take it in?”
He was the uncle of South Sydney Rabbitohs star Tyrone Munro and the team recently suited up Black bracelets in honor of the 30-year-old.
Ms Mounce-Stephens’ funeral was held at Rookwood Cemetery last week and it is understood she had previously fought with substance abuse.
She was once Convicted of drug supply and possession and ordered to undergo rehabilitation.
The New South Wales Department of Health confirmed that two other people were also hospitalized after coming into contact with the contaminated cocaine.
The couple was treated for a heroin overdose after ingesting what I thought it was cocaine.
The deaths have prompted an urgent warning from NSW Health about the danger of illicit drugs whose potency and content were unknown and inconsistent.
New South Wales Addiction specialist Dr. Hester Wilson said it only takes “one line” of heroin to cause an overdose.
“One of the dangers of illicit drug supply is that the potency and content of the substance being obtained is unknown and can be inconsistent,” he said.
“It is important for people to recognize the signs of an opioid overdose early and know how to respond.”
Opioid overdoses can cause pinpoint pupils, drowsiness, loss of consciousness, slow breathing/snoring and skin that turns blue/gray, all of which can be life-threatening, he said.
‘Heroin and other opioids can be sold as or found in cocaine, methamphetamine and MDMA (ecstasy). It is not always possible to differentiate these drugs by their appearance.’
Ms. Wilson advised all drug users to carry naloxone, which can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose, if they intend to take it.
Naloxone does not require a prescription and is free to anyone at risk of opioid overdose in New South Wales.