In the most unexpected place: hundreds of kilograms of cocaine featuring Erling Haaland's image
Drugs worth 11 million dollars were seized in a truck in Ecuador, and the packages featured the face of the Manchester City and Norway national team star. It turns out he is not the first to receive this dubious honor.
Erling Haaland was undoubtedly one of the standout stars of the last World Cup, becoming an internet sensation with nearly 30 million new followers on his official Instagram page — a success he justified with seven goals in four games during the tournament in North America.
However, on Wednesday, Ecuadorian police discovered the portrait of the Norwegian star in a particularly surprising place: on green rectangular packages that were part of a massive shipment of cocaine seized in a truck near the border with Colombia. According to an AP report, the truck driver was arrested after police intercepted the shipment, which contained 469 kg of cocaine. The estimated value of the haul on the local market is nearly 842,000 dollars, while in the USA it is valued at over 11 million dollars, and in Europe at more than 19.6 million dollars (17 million euros).
Police did not provide an explanation for the stickers featuring the blonde Norwegian striker. However, according to the report, this is a common practice in the world of drug smuggling: traffickers mark their shipments with the names or images of famous athletes and celebrities to indicate which criminal network produced the goods and for which client they are intended.
In a statement released by the police, it was noted:
«Officers of the anti-drug unit launched an operation following anonymous information received in the early hours of Tuesday morning. During activity on the Pan-American Highway, the officers noticed a suspicious truck. After conducting a search, they found 370 packages hidden in a false bottom of the truck».
The police released a video showing the packages spilling out of the truck's false bottom, with the stickers featuring Haaland's image clearly visible. Haaland, it turns out, is not the only football star who has apparently received such "attention" from drug smugglers; the image of Argentina national team captain Lionel Messi has also appeared in the past on seized packages.
