Woman Dies After Single Sip of Wine

A Belgian woman opened a bottle of red wine to enjoy with a friend, took one sip, and soon collapsed. Five days later, she was dead. Authorities say the wine was laced with MDMA, the active ingredient in ecstasy, and just one sip gave the 41-year-old a fatal dose of the drug. MDA, another amphetamine sometimes used as an adulterant in illegal MDMA, was also found in her system. A witness says the woman poured out the rest of the bottle after her one sip because it tasted so bad, the Brussels Times reports; she lost consciousness soon after that. Prosecutors believe the bottle had been used to transport drugs, the Guardian reports.

Drug traffickers have been known to use full wine bottles in the past, and Antwerp prosecutors say they found evidence of tampering with the cork on the woman's bottle. It was a Black & Bianco 2016 merlot cabernet sauvignon, which typically has a black cork featuring the company's logo; this bottle had a different cork. Authorities are not aware of any other bottles that have been tampered with, but they are asking the public to be aware of the risk and report any suspicious bottles to police. (More MDMA stories.)