Cops seize £15m of cocaine parcels featuring Man City star Erling Haaland after tip-off about flat-bed truck

COPS seize £15million of cocaine in parcels featuring the image of Norway and Man City’s Erling Haaland. They stopped a flat-bed truck after a tip-off and found a false floor containing 370 packages weighing nearly half a ton. Cops in Ecuador seize £15million of cocaine in parcels featuring the image of Norway and Man City’s Erling Haaland Credit: AP Cartels often use public figures to identify shipments so drug couriers know who they belong to and who the buyer is The packages were wrapped in green plastic and all featured the Norwegian striker in a snap taken in the World Cup A woman identified only as María R was arrested. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! The vehicle was stopped on Wednesday on Ecuador’s Pan-American Highway near the border city of Tulcan. The city is 153 miles north of the capital of Quito and just a few hundred yards from Colombia. Along with Haaland, pictures of Lionel Messi, Ronaldo and Maradona have also been used by cartels to mark their drugs Credit: Getty Cops show off the haul of seized cocaine The South American country is where up to 80 per cent of the world’s cocaine is produced. Cartels often use public figures to identify shipments so drug couriers know who they belong to and who the buyer is. Pictures of Lionel Messi, Ronaldo and Maradona have also been used. Ecuadorian police have seized 80 tons of drugs this year — and 215 tons last year. Most read in The Sun The vehicle was stopped on Wednesday on Ecuador’s Pan-American Highway near the border city of Tulcan Ecuadorian police have seized 80 tons of drugs this year — and 215 tons last year Credit: AP Ecuador is a logistical hub in the international drug trafficking network with millions of pounds’ worth of cocaine smuggled there from Colombia. It is then stockpiled and distributed via Central American routes to America and Europe. Comment now