Police have issued an urgent warning about the potentially fatal effects of a class-A drug seized in Fife last week.
Tablets containing a mixture of PMMA (paramethoxymethylamphetamine) and the class-B amphetamine were among a seizure of £120,000-worth of drugs made in Oakley on Friday.
Two people appeared in court on Monday in connection with the seizure of 2kg of class-A drugs and 20kg of class-B.
Stuart Herron (48) and Karen Mancini (42), both from Oakley, appeared in private at Dunfermline charged with offences under the misuse of drugs act.
Neither made any plea or declaration and Herron was remanded in custody while Mancini was released on bail pending further inquiries.
PMMA has been blamed for several deaths across Europe in recent months, including the death of a 20-year-old man in Inverness in September.
Although no one has died through taking PMMA in Fife, its discovery in the area has prompted police to warn partygoers of its effects.
Detective Superintendent Colin Beattie said: ”After a closer examination of the drugs seized in the raid, two kilograms was found to be a mixture of the class-A drug PMMA and the class-B drug amphetamine.
”PMMA is a very toxic stimulant which may cause dangerous overheating in the body. It mimics the effect of ecstacy, but is not as potent. In turn, users tend to take more of the drug which increases the risk of a fatal overdose.
”It is further evidence that some users don’t know what they are taking.”
Last year PMMA was found in tablets in Scotland, where they are known as Einsteins, which have an Emc2 logo.
It is also known to be present in other drugs, including powders, products sold as legal highs and ecstacy tablets in all sorts of colours and logos.
Dr Brian Montgomery, NHS Fife’s medical director, said: ”When anyone takes a non-prescription drug they can never be sure of what it contains and are potentially putting their lives at risk.”