Waukegan police are investigating reports that metal hairpins and wire turned up inside wrapped, unopened Halloween candy collected during trick-or-treating, and they're asking parents and guardians across the city to check every piece before letting kids dig in. Officers have not said where the tainted candy came from or who may be responsible, and the investigation remains open.
According to NBC 5 Chicago, the foreign objects — including metal hairpins and wire — were discovered inside candy that was still sealed in its original packaging, not pieces that had already been opened or eaten. Police shared a photo appearing to show the hairpins and other metal objects sitting alongside the candy, visual evidence meant to help families recognize what to look for in their own kids' hauls.
Police Urge a Careful Check of Every Wrapper
In their warning, Waukegan police asked parents and guardians to carefully inspect all candy before children eat any of it, treating the precaution as standard practice rather than a one-time scare. The department's message, as relayed by the outlet, was direct: “Please examine each piece to the best of your ability and do not consume any candy that appears tampered with or contains suspicious objects.”
Anyone who finds a piece of candy that looks tampered with, or discovers a foreign object like the ones described, is asked to call the Waukegan Police Department at 847-360-9000. Officers also urged residents to pass the warning along to family, friends and neighbors so more households are checking before Halloween treats get eaten.
What Investigators Haven't Said
Authorities did not provide details about where the candy came from, leaving open questions about which stores, neighborhoods or trick-or-treating routes may have been affected. The department has not released additional information on how the objects ended up inside sealed wrappers, and the case remains under investigation.
A Pattern Showing Up Elsewhere
Waukegan isn't the only city fielding reports like this this season. Police in Ontario, British Columbia and Saskatchewan have been receiving reports of staples, needles and morphine turning up in Halloween treats, according to Global News. In one case out of Mattawa, Ontario, a family found a chip bag that appeared to have been cut open and resealed, and preliminary tests indicated the presence of a suspected opioid, believed to be morphine. In Surrey, the Surrey Police Service and the RCMP's provincial operations support unit are investigating a report of a metal staple found inside a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup.
A similar scare played out in Regina, Saskatchewan, last November, when CBC News reported that police received three reports of possible tampering, including callers who said they found small pieces of metal stuck into chocolate bars. One of those reports involved a child in east Regina who said they found a needle in a chocolate bar gathered while trick-or-treating. Police said no one was injured in either of the two incidents they investigated, and the three chocolate bars in question — two Coffee Crisps and one Aero bar — were all Nestle products. None of these Canadian cases have been tied to what happened in Waukegan.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration also recommends that parents inspect commercially wrapped treats for signs of tampering, including tears, holes or other damage to the packaging, according to Good Morning America. That same report noted that New Jersey police seized tablets in September that were marketed as ecstasy but tested positive for methamphetamine — though that seizure was not linked to Halloween or to any reports of drugs being handed out to trick-or-treaters. For now, Waukegan families are being told to look closely at every wrapper before anyone takes a bite.
