Music fans leaving the T in the Park festival have been warned that a toxic batch of fake ecstasy pills may be in circulation while police continue their inquiries into the possibly drug-related deaths of two teenagers and an alleged rape at the Perthshire event.

As the Red Hot Chili Peppers closed the festival on Sunday evening, Police Scotland warned that a number of Green Rolex-type pills had been recovered at the festival and others that may be in circulation.



In 2013, the green pills – some of which were found to contain the dangerous stimulant para-Methoxyamphetamine, known as PMA – were linked to 15 deaths across Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Police Scotland said there was no evidence to link the pills, which are stamped with the distinctive Rolex crown, to the deaths of the two 17-year-olds at the campsite on Friday. The youngsters have been named locally as Megan Bell, from Seaham in County Durham, and Peter MacCallum, from Lochgilphead, Argyll.



The Guardian understands that this is the first time the potentially toxic pills have come to Police Scotland’s attention since the 2013 deaths, which led to warnings from police and drug agencies in Scotland and Northern Ireland. At the time, there were unconfirmed reports that drug dealers were burying their surplus supplies in order to introduce them back into circulation once concerns had faded. Police said inquiries were continuing as to where this latest batch could have come from.

T in the Park organisers urged anyone carrying drugs at the festival to leave them in “amnesty bins” stationed around the site.

Following the deaths on Friday, Police Scotland’s gold commander for the festival, Ch Supt Angela McLaren, said: “We are continuing to investigate these deaths and are following lines of inquiry, including the possibility that they may be drug-related. I would remind all persons attending the festival that there is no safe way of taking drugs.”

Katy MacLeod, national training and development officer for the Scottish Drugs Forum, said it was important to be realistic when warning festivalgoers about drug use.

“Part of the problem with drug warnings is that they are often limited to advice not to use drugs and so they fail to address the issue that some people will always choose to take substances regardless of risk. As people’s perception of risk is different, the ‘just say no approach’ simply does not work with some audiences. Instead, it’s important to be realistic and pragmatic in response and consider initiatives which have proven to be successful here in the UK and in other countries, including drug testing, education and harm reduction interventions.”



She added that it was commonplace for small batches of tablets to surface at events where people may have stored them from previous purchases. “There appears to be no other on the ground intelligence of green Rolex tablets in circulation currently so it’s highly possible this is an isolated recovery. The biggest issue with Ecstasy currently in UK is high purity MDMA tablets which can pose a risk to people if using at high levels and mixing with other substances. Understanding the issues with high purity MDMA tablets is a key focus of our activity at present.”

Police are also investigating the alleged rape of an 18-year-old woman on the festival campsite. A Police Scotland spokesman said: “Police are making inquiries into a report of a rape of an 18-year-old female on Thursday evening. Our inquiries are ongoing.”

