‘A nightmare’: family says they discovered ecstasy inside toy box ordered online

May 13, 2022 at 6:08 pm PDT

PIERCE COUNTY, Wash. — A Pierce County family opened up a gift for their 4-year-old's birthday, but instead of a toy inside, the family says they found a package full of drugs.

Lakewood Police say they tested the pills, and they came back positive for ecstasy.

"It's like a nightmare," said a Lakewood dad, who didn't want to be identified or show his face on camera. He is concerned that someone is now missing their package of drugs and might be searching for it.

He did provide the police case number, and KIRO 7 confirmed with Lakewood Police that officers responded.

Lt. Chris Lawler said police used a field test kit and the contents "presumptively tested positive for MDMA/ecstasy".

Now, the family is warning other parents about what happened to their family.

"It's a bunch of unfortunate events, and how it occurred I have no clue," the dad said. He said his son's aunt shipped him a few gifts from Amazon. One item inside was supposed to be a Playmobil police toy kit.

"My son was walking around for three hours with this box waiting for me. Fortunately, he waited for me to get home," the dad said.

He says they opened up the package together on the kitchen floor.

"I start opening it up, open up one layer of foil paper and I'm like, 'this is kind of weird,'" he said. "Everyone's like, 'What is it? What is it?' Everyone is freaking out."

"I'm like, 'They're pills, pink pills, I'm not sure what it is,'" he said. He said he had the whole family wash their hands and go outside, and he called Lakewood Police.