Candy with Metal

Halloween Horror Finds in More and More Federal States

An investigation is currently underway on suspicion of intentional aggravated assault.(Bild: Krone-Collage/pixel-shot.com (Leonid Yastremskiy) stock.adobe, LPD Steiermark)

In several Austrian states, candy collected on Halloween on Monday was found to have been tampered with by unknown individuals, who apparently inserted metal objects into it. As the Federal Criminal Police Office (BK) reported in the evening, the states of Upper Austria, Styria, and Lower Austria have been affected so far. 

The BK warned parents and other guardians to check the candy collected by children before they eat it: The most dangerous case reported so far occurred in Linz, where unknown individuals laced Halloween candy with nails. A 28-year-old father found nails in chocolate bars and chewy candies that his children had collected, police reported on Monday. As a precaution, authorities warned against consuming Halloween candy collected in the Linz-Oed district. That evening, the Styrian police announced that metal objects had also been found in candy in two Styrian districts.

According to police, the nails in Linz were one centimeter long. Some had apparently been pushed in from the outside and were clearly visible, while others were embedded in the candy and could not be detected, a police spokeswoman said. It is believed that the candy was tampered with by hand. No further cases have been reported so far. The Upper Austrian police remained rather tight-lipped about specific investigative steps.

Another Case in the Vöcklabruck District
In the Vöcklabruck district, a mother filed a report after discovering a thick needle in a chewy candy and a chocolate bar that her 11-year-old daughter had collected on Friday evening in the municipality of Vöcklamarkt. According to a police statement, the girl bit into one of the candies but was not injured.

Four Cases in the Styrian Districts of Weiz and Leibnitz
The Styrian police confirmed a report by the “Kurier” that evening. Currently, four cases are known in the Weiz and Leibnitz districts. The police did not disclose what kind of metal objects were involved. According to the “Kurier,” they could include, among other things, a paper clip.

According to the Styrian police, no one has been injured so far. Authorities advised people to carefully inspect the candy collected on Halloween night before eating it. The Styrian State Police Directorate is investigating these incidents against unknown individuals.

The police are taking these incidents very seriously. The investigation is in full swing.

Bundeskriminalamt

Case in the Amstetten District
Another case came to light in Lower Austria this evening. Sweets laced with metal have been found in the Amstetten district. Police authorities plan to release further details on Tuesday.

“The police are taking these incidents very seriously. The investigations are in full swing and are being reviewed and coordinated by the Federal Criminal Police Office (BK) to determine any possible connections,” the BK stated in its press release. However, based on the current status of the investigation, there are no indications of a connection between the reported cases. The public will be informed as soon as new, verified findings are available.

The Federal Criminal Police Office further clarified the warning, stating that “in particular,” people should check “whether packaging has been damaged or tampered with and whether foreign objects, especially metallic objects, are present in the candy.” If anything suspicious is found, the police should be notified immediately.

Similar Cases in Germany
It remains unclear whether the incidents may have been fueled by social media or similar cases in Germany. There, children also found needles or other metal objects in their Halloween candy over the weekend. The police reported such cases in Thuringia, Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Lower Saxony, and Rhineland-Palatinate, among other places.

In Lower Saxony, according to dpa, a nine-year-old girl suffered a tongue injury from a pin about five centimeters long found in a chocolate bar. The tampered candy had been distributed by an unknown person in Bremervörde, located between Bremerhaven and Hamburg.

Discovery in Regensburg
In Regensburg, according to dpa, a mother discovered sharp sewing needles—some several centimeters long—in chocolate bars her son had collected that afternoon. According to the Regensburg-South Police Department, the boy and his friends had been out and about in the Dörnberg neighborhood on Friday evening. Police are now searching the area for the perpetrator. Officers have launched an investigation into attempted aggravated assault.

In Schwarzenbach, in the Neustadt an der Waldnaab district northeast of Nuremberg, a 10-year-old girl found a needle about four centimeters long in a chocolate bar. The child was not injured, according to the Eschenbach Police Department. Officers appealed to any witnesses to contact the police.