Ecuador police seize 469kg of cocaine in bags bearing Erling Haaland's face
Ecuadorian anti-narcotics police seized 469 kilograms of cocaine from a truck near the Colombian border during a raid on Wednesday, and many of the 370 parcels recovered bore stickers showing Manchester City striker Erling Haaland's face.
The haul was located after authorities received an anonymous tip about a suspicious vehicle travelling along the Pan-American Highway; officers stopped and searched the truck and discovered a concealed compartment holding the drugs, and a suspect was arrested during the operation.
Police footage released after the raid showed officers removing green-wrapped packages from the hidden compartment, with the parcels prominently displaying images of Haaland.
The report noted that the Norwegian forward scored seven goals in four matches at the recent World Cup and said his performances, imposing appearance and playful personality have made him a prominent figure on social media, where fans have frequently turned him into memes and viral content.
Authorities said Haaland was not the first football star whose likeness has appeared on drug consignments, citing previous incidents in which Lionel Messi's image was found on seized packages.
Officials placed the interception near Guagua Negro, close to the border city of Tulcan about 246 kilometres north of Quito, and identified the person arrested as a woman named Mara R., who was carrying Colombian identification documents; authorities estimated the cocaine would be worth around $842,000 on Ecuador's domestic market and more than $11 million in the United States and over $19.6 million (17 million euros) in Europe.
Ecuadorian authorities said domestic criminal groups, often working with Colombian and Mexican cartels, control much of the country's trafficking network; they estimate roughly 80% of the cocaine moving through Ecuador originates in Colombia and the remainder comes from Peru. Police figures released in the report show the scale of the problem: approximately 80 tonnes of drugs seized in the first half of this year, following nearly 215 tonnes confiscated in 2025 and almost 295 tonnes in 2024, most of it cocaine.
