Dutch police discover “visibly startled” garden gnome made entirely of MDMA: “Drugs appear in many shapes and sizes”

Dutch police have discovered a garden gnome made entirely out of MDMA during a drug bust.

The raid took place in the southern Netherlands earlier this month, and led to officers discovering a 2kg wad of ecstasy in the shape of a garden gnome.

According to the Dongemond police, the gnome looked  “visibly startled” and was found alongside other narcotics. It drew the attention of the officers present at the drug bust as it seemed like “a strange place to keep your garden gnome”. After it caught their eye, it went to be tested for narcotics.

“Drugs appear in many shapes and sizes, but every now and then we come across special things,” a spokesperson said (via the BBC).

The sculpture weighed around 2kg (4lb), and Mixmag reported that it was the equivalent of around 8,000 ecstasy pills, weighing an average of 250mg each.

In the BBC report, police said that the gnome appeared to be grey and had a similar texture to that of a stone. It hasn’t been confirmed which part of southern Netherlands the raid was done in. Dongemond Police work in locations including Oosterhout, Geertruidenberg, Drimmelen and Altena.

Dutch police find gnome made of MDMA during drug bust https://t.co/bbNdPGSZGv

— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) November 22, 2024

This isn’t the first time that a major ecstasy bust has made headlines. Back in September, police in Ibiza reported what they called “the largest ecstasy drug bust in Spanish history”.

In the raid, over a million ecstasy pills were seized, and it was said to be related to  Spanish, Italian and Dutch suspects who operate in “different parts of Europe”, smuggling drugs using cars with fake undercarriages” (as per Mixmag).

It also comes as it was reported in October that clubbers in the UK had been issued a warning after high-strength pills led to “multiple” hospitalisations across London.

According to harm reduction charity The Loop, various types of pills had been found in the capital that included strengths of MDMA between 90mg and 290mg. It added that a quarter of all ecstasy tablets it tested came up with over 200mg – double the adult dose.

Before then, the same charity issued a warning about “super strength” ecstasy pills at Glastonbury 2024, and they also found evidence of the “super strength” pills from samples at Manchester’s Parklife.

It has been a growing issue across the UK. Back in 2022, for instance, Reading & Leeds Festival issued a fresh warning about the use of drugs at their festivals, noting that “ecstasy deaths appear to be rising year on year”.

Shortly before then, organisers of Boardmasters were forced to warn their attendees of dangerously high-strength MDMA that was found on-site at the festival, and pills tested at Secret Garden Party 2022 were found to contain more than 2.5 times the typical amount of ecstasy.

Last June, numerous figures from the live music industry criticised the government’s U-turn on festival drug testing, which came amid the Home Office retracting its support for drug testing at festivals.

The three-month licence application process was branded as a “deadly step backwards” by Bristol Nightlife Advisor Carly Heath, and Michael Kill of the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) warned that it would have “considerable ramifications and a potential to put people’s lives at risk.”

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