Sewing needles are still being found inside strawberries and other fruits sold in groceries throughout Australia and now in New Zealand.
Australian police haven't stopped the crisis and remain in the dark as to who's been doing this for the past two weeks and why. There have been more than 100 cases where hidden needles were found inside fruits sold in groceries.
Most of these fruits were strawberries, but needles have also been found in an apple, a banana, and a mango. Police said some of the reports about fruits with hidden needles were false alarms.
Two people have been sent to the hospital after unknowingly eating fruits laced with needles. The needles were first found in strawberries produced by one supplier in the northern state of Queensland.
Woolworths, Australia's biggest supermarket, last week temporarily halted the sale of sewing needles to prevent the needle crisis from endangering more people. The sewing needle ban is in effect in all 995 Woolworths branches throughout Australia.
The crisis has started a panic and sown chaos in Australia's fruit industry, which is being hit by rapidly falling sales of fruits of all kinds. The panic is so severe, the Australian Parliament hastily passed an amendment to the Criminal Code Act 1995 increasing the jail term for those convicted of hiding needles in fruit to 15 years.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the person doing this is "a coward and a grub." He said inserting needles into fruits isn't a joke and isn't funny. He said this person or persons are putting the livelihoods of hardworking Australians at risk. These people are also scaring children.
Morrison warned the government will come after you and will throw the book at you.
This deadly prank appears to have worsened over the past week, said the police. The first reported case was earlier this month when a man in a Facebook post said his friend had swallowed part of a needle hidden in a strawberry and was sent to the hospital. Confirmed cases of embedded needles have since sprouted-up all over Australia.
The governments of Western Australia, New South Wales, and Queensland are all offering a reward of A$100,000 (US$72,000) for information about who's responsible for this deadly series of pranks.
The police said last week arrested a person in connection with the needles prank. They said this young person admitted to putting needles in strawberries. This young man will be sent to the youth cautioning system. The arrest of this person, however, hasn't stopped the danger.
Needles are still being found in fruits and this week, New Zealand reported finding needles inside fruits imported from Australia.
