Tests on a batch of horsehead-logo pills seized at a Sydney dance party are expected to reveal what killed a man and put 14 others in hospital.
Police believe revellers at the Defqon 1 dance festival took pills they thought were ecstasy but which actually contained other dangerous substances including one known as PMA.
A 23-year-old Victorian man suffered seizures and cardiac arrests after becoming ill at the Sydney International Regatta Centre in Penrith on Saturday afternoon.
He died in hospital at 10.30pm (AEST).
NSW Drug Squad Commander Detective Superintendent Nick Bingham said the man told doctors he had taken three pills.
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Police said he was also in possession of another substance.
Fourteen others were also taken to hospital after suffering apparent drug overdoses.
Det Supt Bingham said police seized a number of pills with a picture of a horse's head imprinted on them.
"We don't know what the whole 14 took but certainly there was a whole bunch of people caught with substances on them," he told ABC radio on Monday.
"The thing with these pills is people buy them thinking they're ecstasy," Det Supt Bingham said.
Some of these fake ecstasy pills took longer to kick in, he said.
"They think they've bought a dud pill so they take another one and they overdose."
Det Supt Bingham defended the heavy police presence at the event and denied it was responsible for people "stuffing" an entire day's worth of drugs before going in for fear of being detected.
"If they are willing to stuff those pills down their throat before they even go in the venue it's hardly the police's fault," he said.
Police will prepare a report for the coroner outlining the circumstances leading to the man's death.
