2015 Sampaloc milk tea poisoning

The 2015 Sampaloc milk tea poisoning, which occurred in the Sampaloc district of Manila, the Philippines, killed two people and sickened a third. Two customers at the Ergo Cha Tea Shop — a couple, Suzaine Dagohoy and Arnold Aydalla — and the owner, William Abrigo, collapsed after drinking Hokkaido milk tea that had an unpleasant flavor. Dagohoy and Abrigo later died in a hospital. Analysis of their blood showed a lethal amount of oxalic acid. The police filed murder charges against the owner's son, Lloyd Abrigo.

Background

The entire event was recorded on the shop's CCTV camera.

A couple, Suzaine Dagohoy and Arnold Aydalla, ordered Hokkaido milk tea at the Ergo Cha shop on April 9, 2015. After taking a sip, Aydalla tasted something unpleasant and spat the drink out. He then made Dagohoy taste it before bringing the problem to the attention of the shop owner, William Abrigo, who had prepared the drink for the couple.^[2][3] Three minutes later, Dagohoy started to vomit and collapsed. Nearby residents helped Dagohoy to a hospital, where she died four hours later. Aydalla lost consciousness and was also hospitalized, but he survived.

Meanwhile, in an effort to prove that there was nothing wrong with his preparation,^[3] Abrigo drank the milk tea that Dagohoy and Aydalla had returned to him. He also prepared another milk tea for himself and drank it. After a few minutes, he collapsed. The store helper, who had been taking a lunch break at the time of the incident, returned to find Abrigo on the ground and took him to the hospital. Abrigo died two hours after Dagohoy.^[2] The store helper said that he had seen Abrigo's son, Lloyd Kevin Abrigo, bringing toxic-looking chemicals into the shop. He also said that Lloyd had ordered him to wash the pitcher containing the milk tea, but that he had not done so because there was a foul smell emanating from it. Lloyd then cleaned the pitcher himself.^[4]

According to the doctor who attended to the couple, the source of the poisoning was probably organophosphate, which she said could have caused contamination if it came into contact with food.^[1]

Investigation

The cause of the poisoning has not been definitively determined. Initially, officials suspected cyanide, nitrate, nitrite, or arsenic, but tests for all of these substances were negative.^[5]

The Philippine National Police (PNP) said that the victims had tested positive for a bleaching substance. In a statement released on May 11, the PNP announced that traces of oxalic acid had been found in the stomachs and blood of both Dagohoy and William Abrigo.^[6][7]

Manila Police District (MPD) Detective Jonathan Bautista told the reporters on May 12 that all evidence pointed to 23-year-old Lloyd Abrigo. He said that Lloyd had tampered with the crime scene, returning to the shop to clean up while his father was in the hospital.^[8] The victims took an amount of more than a lethal dose which is 9.5 to 10 micrograms per liter.^[8] Some eyewitnesses reported that store workers had thrown milk tea into a canal after the incident.^[9] Lloyd denied these allegations.^[10] On May 15, the MPD charged Lloyd Abrigo with two counts of murder for the deaths of his father and Dagohoy. He was also charged with frustrated murder in the case of Aydalla, Dagohoy’s boyfriend, who survived the incident.^[8]

In early December 2015, the charges were dismissed. The assistant city prosecutor said he found it highly unlikely that Lloyd had had a motive to kill Dagohoy and Aydalla, because he did not know them. According to the ruling, Lloyd also could not be faulted for negligence because there was no proof that he had prepared the milk tea that the victims drank.^[11]

See also

• List of food contamination incidents

References