SPANISH police have issued a warning over pink cocaine – a potentially deadly cocktail of drugs being sold by "mini cartels" in resort towns.
The brightly coloured drug – that sometimes even smells like strawberry – has been discovered across Spain, but particularly in party hotspots such as Majorca or Ibiza.
Hermelo Molero, a top Spanish anti-drug cop based in Bilbao, warned the product is "tremendously dangerous" – and is often made up of a cocktail of cheap drugs, sometimes not even including cocaine.
He warned holidaymakers to be careful this summer as they may be offered the potentially fatal drug for seductively cheap prices in popular resort towns.
Guardia Civil has previously based guns selling the drug, describing them as like mini cartels, and has launched a campaign to stamp them out across Spain.
One group was found armed with submachine guns and having connections to drug traffickers in Colombia.
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Pink cocaine is often known in Spain as Rosada, Tusi, Nexus or Eros.
And the powder is often a mix of ketamine, MDMA, crushed-up caffeine tablets, and potentially other substances.
Captain Maria Elena Cogollo Tejero, from the anti-drug trafficking group of the Spanish police, told The Sun the most seizures have been in the Balearic Islands, Madrid and Valencia.
She explained that drug dealers use a mix of substances to cut corners and keep costs down for the production – with tests on the powder varying between "chemists".
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Claudio Vidal, director of Energy Control, a drug-monitoring service in Spain, also warned that sometimes hallucinogens can also be mixed into the drug, such as LSD and 2C-B.
The effects could be devastating on unsuspected drug users.
Mr Vidal explained pink food colouring and flavouring is often also mixed into the cocktail in order to make sniffing the powder "less unpleasant and painful".
He told The Sun Online: "We can find it in any part of the country- almost always it is related to the areas of entertainment and parties.
"The more entertaining a place and full of young people, the more possible it is to find this product.
"Unfortunately, this drug has entered the country recently and has received a lot of attention in Spain- and that's not good.
"Of course, areas like Marbella, Ibiza are the perfect places to find these substances."
Speaking about the dangers of the drug, Hermelo explains that the symptoms a user can experience can vary as it is nearly impossible to get the exact same product each time.
And with users not really knowing what they are buying, the unexpected side effects can be devastating.
We mix all this and it becomes a dangerous product
He added: "I would say it is very dangerous- like all drugs- but what we have here is what happens with amphetamines.
"We have a product made by a 'chemist' and the effect of the product depends a lot on the mix they use.
"If they use an excessive amount of ketamine it will become a very dangerous drug for the user.
"Ketamine causes a lot of symptoms including very serious ones such as suicidal thoughts.
"In all this, we need to add the effects of LSD. It is a product that has always been very problematic because you can never know the amount that is going to affect your body.
"There are times when even small doses can cause brain damage while others we have a higher tolerance.
"We mix all this and it becomes a dangerous product.
"With all the methamphetamines and these types of drugs, we see that someone can buy some at a bar today and experience no symptoms and buy the same product the next day from the same drug dealer and suffer horrible symptoms.
"That's because he thinks it's the same product the bought the day before.
"The chemistry of the drugs is made in a way that trying the same drug for the second or third time will not have the same effect."
Claudio warns that given that the main substance of the drug is ketamine, its symptoms can affect especially those who are not habitual drug users.
He explains: "The experimentation of the psychedelic effects of the substance among people not used to these effects can lead to panic attacks, the associated loss of balance that can cause falls and injuries and, finally, bladder problems, especially if it is used continuously."
The pink powder, originating from the Colombian city of Medellin, can be found in various forms including a pill, or a powder.
While initially it was dubbed a "posh drug" due to its high price, (up to 100 euros) it has now dropped to the price of normal cocaine, between £40-50.
Hermelo continued: "Its origin, almost every time is the Netherlands. Sometimes we have received it from parts of Belgium and north of Germany.
"It has one of the most competitive prices here in Spain, about £50 per gram.
"Because of this, it has a direct competition with cocaine- which is also around the same price."
Captain Tejero notes that there have been several large operations to seize the pink drug in the past three years.
The drug was found in multiple cities across the country, including Madrid, the Balearics, and Valencia while the biggest bust happened last year in Ibiza when cops discovered 13 kilos of the pink substance.
Twelve people were arrested on the island along with the biggest seizure in Spain till now which included 16 kilos of regular cocaine, 5.5 kilos of ketamine, and over £400.000.
And a further two people were arrested in Colombian in connection with the gang, showing how the drugs are being shipped across the Atlantic.
The Guardia Civil described the mini cartel, armed with a sub machine gun and silencer, as mainly British and "of a very violent nature" who specialised in stealing from other drugs gangs.
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Hermelo concluded: "I always send the same message: that drugs are not good."
Hermelo Molero is the author of El Rey de Picas (The King of Spades) and Heroina (Heroin).
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