A major cocaine seizure near Ecuador’s border with Colombia came with an unexpected detail: hundreds of packages were marked with images of Manchester City and Norway star Erling Haaland. Police discovered 469 kilograms of cocaine hidden inside a truck, with the shipment potentially worth tens of millions of dollars on overseas markets.
QUITO, ECUADOR — Erling Haaland’s face is normally seen on soccer jerseys, billboards and television screens. This week, Ecuadorian police found it somewhere far more unusual — attached to hundreds of packages of cocaine.
Authorities seized 469 kilograms — about 1,034 pounds — of cocaine from a truck near Ecuador’s border with Colombia on Wednesday, August 12. Inside a false compartment beneath the vehicle, anti-narcotics officers discovered 370 green-wrapped packages, many carrying stickers featuring the Norwegian soccer superstar.
Anonymous Tip Leads Police to the Truck
According to Ecuadorian authorities, anti-narcotics officers were operating along the Pan-American Highway after receiving an anonymous tip early Tuesday.
Police later stopped the suspicious truck in the Guagua Negro area near Tulcán, a border city about 153 miles north of Quito. A search revealed the hidden compartment containing the cocaine.
A woman identified by authorities only as María R., who was carrying Colombian identification documents, was arrested during the operation.
Police also released video showing officers removing the packages from beneath the truck.
Why Was Haaland’s Face on the Cocaine?
Authorities did not provide a specific explanation for why Haaland’s image appeared on the packages.
However, marking drug shipments with recognizable symbols, celebrity names or images is not unheard of. Such markings can be used by trafficking organizations to distinguish shipments, identify criminal networks or indicate the intended customer.
Haaland is not even the first major soccer star whose image has appeared on seized narcotics. According to the Associated Press, packages carrying the image of Argentina captain Lionel Messi have also previously been discovered.
Worth Millions Outside Ecuador
The value of the shipment varies dramatically depending on where it would have been sold.
Authorities estimated the cocaine at roughly $842,000 on Ecuador’s domestic market, but said it could be worth more than $11 million in the United States and approximately $19.6 million in Europe.
Ecuador has become an important transit and storage point for cocaine moving from South America toward markets in the United States and Europe. Ecuadorian police reported seizing about 80 tons of drugs during the first half of 2026, following nearly 215 tons in 2025.
For Haaland, there is no suggestion of any connection to the shipment — his likeness appears to have simply become the latest unusual “brand” used on packages moving through the international drug trade.
Source: Fox News via X/Twitter. World Crime Intel via X/Twitter. @NortheastToday via X/Twitter
By NJ RADAR Team