Archive · 15 Aug 2026
Ecuador seizes cocaine packages bearing Erling Haaland's image
Police in Ecuador stopped a big truck and found secret packages full of cocaine.
Cocaine is a very dangerous drug that is against the law.
The packages were hidden in a secret part of the truck.
Many of the packages had pictures of Erling Haaland, a famous soccer player.
Haaland did not know about the drugs and had nothing to do with them.
Bad people sometimes put pictures of famous people on drug packages to help tell the packages apart.
A woman with identification papers from Colombia was arrested.
This has happened before — soccer star Lionel Messi's picture was also found on drug packages in Peru in 2017.
The drugs were worth about 842,000 dollars in Ecuador and could be worth much more money in the United States and Europe.
Ecuadorian anti-narcotics officers seized 469 kilograms of cocaine hidden inside a truck near the Colombian border.
Many of the 370 parcels found in a secret compartment carried images of Manchester City and Norway striker Erling Haaland.
The operation was launched after an anonymous tip about a suspicious truck travelling along the Pan American Highway.
Erling Haaland had no connection to the shipment, and a woman carrying Colombian identification documents was arrested.
Authorities estimated the local value at about $842,000, potentially exceeding $11 million in the United States and $19.6 million in Europe.
- Who
- Ecuadorian anti-narcotics officers, who arrested a woman carrying Colombian identification documents; the packages featured Manchester City and Norway striker Erling Haaland's image without his involvement.
- What
- Seized 469 kilograms of cocaine, hidden in 370 parcels inside a secret truck compartment, many of which bore images of Erling Haaland.
- When
- Specific date not stated in the articles.
- Where
- A truck travelling along the Pan American Highway near Ecuador's border with Colombia.
- Why
- Authorities have not explained why traffickers used Haaland's image, but celebrity images are commonly used by drug organizations to identify packages or recipients; Ecuador is a key transit route for cocaine destined for Central America, the United States and Europe.
- Cocaine seized
- 469 kilograms
- Parcels found
- 370 parcels in a secret compartment
- Location
- Truck on the Pan American Highway near the Colombian border, Ecuador
- Arrest
- A woman carrying Colombian identification documents
- Estimated local value
- About $842,000
- Estimated US value
- More than $11 million
- Estimated European value
- More than $19.6 million
- Haaland's involvement
- None - image used on packages without his connection to the shipment