In summer 2021, police in Ibiza seized around thirteen kilos of 'pink cocaine'. This was the first time that it had been detected in the Balearics. It is said to have first surfaced in Spain earlier that year in Zaragoza. If so, it had taken time for it to cross the Atlantic - almost ten years. Its origins were in Colombia.
The name is misleading as there normally isn't any cocaine. It's also referred to as tuci, which comes from 2C-B, a synthetic psychedelic drug that was developed in the 1970s. The mixtures have varied. In Mallorca, police say that it is a combination of MDMA (the compound of ecstasy) and amphetamines. The tuci in Zaragoza also contained fentanyl. In Ibiza, 2C-B was in the mix.
A 14-year-old boy in Getafe (Madrid) died at the weekend as a consequence of taking the so-called pink cocaine mixed with an energy drink. Even without an energy drink addition, the police warn that it is like "a bomb".
"It's so powerful that it causes severe hypertension and can lead to heart failure. It's a bomb because it is ecstasy and amphetamines in powder form. People don't know what they are consuming."
The drug has been seized during police operations in the Son Banya shanty town in Palma, and police suggest that it may well also be for sale in other parts of Palma, e.g. Son Gotleu. A gram is selling for 100 euros.