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More held for poisonous cocaine

ROME: Italian police have arrested two more persons in Bergamo, a city of northern Italy, who were believed to deal cocaine laced with atropine which has sent 18 persons to hospital, local media reported.

Police believed the two suspects are members of the Moroccan gang dealing cocaine with three other Moroccans who were nabbed over the weekend.

Police said the alarm over the tainted drugs appears to be over after no one else was hospitalised aside from the six on Thursday and 12 on Friday.

Atropine, a poisonous alkaloid obtained from deadly nightshade, also known as belladonna, creates eye and hearing hallucinations and can lead to irregular heartbeat.

It dilates the pupils and an overdose can lead to convulsions, unconsciousness and even death. — Xinhua

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