Happy Meal came with side of drugs — now 2 McDonald’s workers face charges, cops say
A Maine mother said her blood was “boiling” after she discovered drugs inside the McDonald’s Happy Meal she ordered for her 11-year-old son last month.
Among the boy’s half eaten nuggets and fries were packets of the prescription drug Suboxone. Now two McDonald’s employees face criminal charges, according to authorities in Auburn, Maine.
A 43-year-old worker was charged with unlawful possession of Schedule W drugs, while a 29-year-old co-worker accused of supplying the drugs faces an unlawful trafficking offense, Auburn police said in a news release Wednesday. Authorities said the incident appears to be accidental, however.
Shirlee Marchesseault, the mother, said she spotted the drugs after picking up her meal at the store’s drive-thru on June 30, the Lewiston Sun Journal reported. Unsure of what it was, she immediately contacted police.
“[My son] ate most of the food and passed me the box and I look in it and found all that in there,” she told the newspaper at the time. “I had to look up what that stuff was on Google because I didn’t know what it was!”
Suboxone (generic name buprenorphine/naloxone) is “an opioid partial agonist” typically used to treat opioid dependence, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. It’s used as a medication-assisted treatment for those trying to kick their opioid habit and is known to help with withdrawal symptoms and cravings.
“When taken as prescribed, buprenorphine is safe and effective,” the administration’s website states.
Police said the packets mistakenly fell from the McDonald’s employee’s shirt pocket and landed in the Happy Meal as he was prepping drive-thru food orders. In-store surveillance showed him reach for something behind the counter, at which point the Suboxone strips and a Bic pen fell into the boxed meal.
The worker who was preparing orders had gotten the drugs “illegally” from a co-worker during his shift, police said, and didn’t realize the packets were missing until later.
The owner and operator of the McDonald’s told McClatchy News that the two workers have been fired.
“I was shocked and disappointed by the behavior of these crew members, which goes against the values we have as an organization and will not be tolerated,” owner Taylor Goble said in a statement. “We are taking this matter seriously so that we can continue to maintain our high standards.”
While Marchesseault’s son didn’t ingest any of the Suboxone, she said she hopes to keep this from happening to someone else.
“I’m just wondering like, ‘How often does this happen?’ ” she told WGME. “It shouldn’t be in the hands of any child. It’s dangerous.”
The employees are set to appear in court November 3.
This story was originally published July 7, 2021 at 12:28 PM with the headline "Happy Meal came with side of drugs — now 2 McDonald’s workers face charges, cops say."