Taiwan authorities are conducting tests on a cult Dutch liquor which is suspected to contain cocaine.
Imports of Agwa de Bolivia have been suspended pending test results to see whether the spirit, flavored with coca leaves - cocaine's root ingredient - tests positive for the narcotic.
It is unclear if the drink is available in Hong Kong.
Acting on complaints of illness after consuming the liquor by customers at nightclubs, bars and lounges, the Taiwan government said 60 cases out of 270 have already been distributed. A positive test would lead to a recall.
It would be the second in the last two months after a German health institute said that it found 0.03 milligrams of cocaine per can of Red Bull Cola.
ADVERTISEMENT
Tests on Red Bull in Hong Kong found it not to be in breach of the law.
The local Centre for Food Safety was unavailable for comment and the drink's maker, Babco Europe, could not be contacted.
The drink's coca leaves are flown from Bolivia to Amsterdam under armed guard where the spirit is manufactured in a secret process, according to the drink's website.
The primary cocaine alkaloid is "distilled out," they say.
Trademark and Copyright Notice: Copyright
2005, The Standard Newspaper Publishing Ltd., and its related entities. All
rights reserved. Use in whole or part of this site's content is
prohibited. Use of this Web site assumes acceptance of the
Terms of Use
and
Copyright Policy.
Please also read our
Ethics Statement.
