Woman died after taking one sip of wine laced with MDMA

Wine bottle’s original cork was removed and replaced, investigators say

The original cork had been removed from the Black & Bianco wine bottle (Antwerp Public Prosecutor's Office)

A woman in Belgium died after taking a sip of wine from a bottle believed to have been used to smuggle the drug MDMA.

The 41-year-old had opened the bottle of French red wine at home and drank a small amount before pouring the rest away because it “tasted bad”, the Belgian public prosecutor’s office said.

The woman, from the Flemish town of Puurs, near Antwerp, later collapsed and was taken to hospital, where she died five days later on 17 December last year.

A post-mortem examination found a fatal dose of MDMA in her blood.

Prosecutors said there was nothing to suggest the woman was a drug user and believe MDMA was added to the wine after its bottle and cork were “manipulated”.

Investigators found the bottle’s original cork had been removed and replaced.

It is unclear where the woman bought the wine, a 2016 Merlot Cabernet Sauvignon from the Dutch brand Black & Bianco.

In a warning issued on Thursday, prosecutors said they were not aware of any other bottles that had been tampered with but urged the public to be wary of the risk and alert police to any suspicious wine.

Drug traffickers are known to use wine bottles to conceal drugs in transit.

In a statement on its website, Black & Bianco said it was “very shocked and very upset” to learn of the woman’s death.

It added: “It has been established that this is not the original version of the bottle, the original black cork and envelope with the Black & Bianco logo has been replaced by another cork, beige in colour.

“According to the public prosecutor’s office, only one known bottle is currently known. Anyone who thinks they have a suspicious bottle is explicitly asked not to open the bottle and to immediately inform the police.”