Police issue warning over dangerous batch of Donald Trump-shaped ecstasy pills

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Police have issued a warning over a dangerous high-strength batch of Donald Trump-shaped ecstasy pills which have been seized in Bedfordshire.

A man in his 30s from Luton has been arrested on suspicion of supplying the orange tablets, which are designed to look like the US president, Bedfordshire Police said.

“Criminals are constantly finding new ways to sell their drugs and make them more appealing,” Detective Sergeant Ryan Barnes, from the force’s Crime Investigation Team, said.

“We have seen MDMA tablets created to look like a number of culturally popular items before and a recent example of this is the 'Donald Trumps'.

“The 'Donald Trumps' are dangerous tablets that contain extremely high levels of MDMA and could put anyone taking these in serious harm.”

DS Barnes added: “If you come across these or any other type of drug, please do not take them for your own safety, as you can never be sure what these pills contain.”

Bedfordshire Police said possible signs of a stimulant overdose could include overheating, extreme agitation or disorientation, hallucinations and seizures.

In 2018, the drug safety testing organisation The Loop issued a warning over a batch of Trump-shaped tablets which were found at Y Not Festival in Derbyshire containing more than 250mg of MDMA - well above the average dose of a tablet.

Police in Florida also discovered similar Trump-shaped ecstasy pills last year but it was unclear whether the pills were manufactured in the same place as those found in the UK.

A number of other ecstasy pills have been branded with well-known logos or images in recent years, such as UPS pills, Superman pills and Donkey Kong pills.

There have also been MDMA pills found which are designed to look like Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Additional reporting by PA