How Cocaine Worth $55m Was Found Inside Coca-Cola Plant

Posted on September 4, 2016

MICHAEL AKINOLA

The Coca-Cola factory in Signes, southern France

The Coca-Cola factory in Signes, southern France

Hundreds of kilos of cocaine was found in a Coca-Cola plant in France Friday, making the seizure of the drug one of the largest ever on French soil.

Workers at the Coca-Cola factory found a huge stash of the cocaine inside a shipment of fruit juice in southern France.

French officials say the cocaine was discovered in backpacks among a shipment of orange juice concentrate that originated in Costa Rica. The 370 kg of literal coke uncovered at the factory is reported to have a potential street value of €50 million Euros ($55m) and was referred to as a “very bad surprise” by a local prosecutor.

Authorities are currently unaware of who was behind the cocaine, but an investigation is now underway in Signes, a village in the south of France. Employees of the plant have already been ruled out as suspects.

“The first elements of the investigation have shown that employees are in no way involved,” according to Jean-Denis Malgras, the regional president of Coca-Cola.

“You can well imagine the surprise,” said another spokesman for Coca-Cola.

When the staff unearthed the haul when they opened a delivery of fruit juice concentrate from Costa Rica last Friday, they immediately alerted police and were ruled out as potential suspects.

An investigation into trafficking and importing of illegal drugs has been launched by the Marseille prosecutor’s office.

The factory, situated in the town of Signes, near the Mediterranean, produces concentrates for various drinks.

Coke

Coca-Cola was originally called Pemberton’s French Wine Coca and contained a mixture of Peruvian coca leaves, kola nut, damiana, and cocaethylene (cocaine mixed with alcohol). Druggist John Stith Pemberton invented his French Wine Coca in Atlanta, Georgia, and it became very popular across the southeastern United States.

The Coca-Cola recipe was a closely guarded secret, but in 1891, an Atlanta newspaper reported what many had already suspected: Coca-Cola contained cocaine. Coke was forced to change its marketing strategy and began referring to their product as “refreshing,” rather than promoting any medicinal benefits. Coca-Cola began taking cocaine out of its soft drink in 1903 because of racially-promoted fears among white society.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Latest News

The wife of the Executive Chairman of Ojodu LCDA, Mrs. Abimbola Odunmbaku, led a... Continue
MICHAEL AKINOLA  An embittered woman, Oluwabunmi Hannah Farina, has narrated that she is yet... Continue
Notable groups, Orashi National Congress, ONC, Southern Youths Foundation of Nigeria and Civil Society... Continue
Nigeria’s maverick entrepreneur and Group Chief Executive Officer of Konga, Africa’s fastest growing e-commerce... Continue
MICHAEL AKINOLA  A combined team of operatives from the Commissioner of Police Tactical Squad... Continue
EBERE UZOUKWA, PhD Abia State has taken a bold step into the future as... Continue
Prominent businessman and community figure, Gbolahan Lawanson, has been discharged and acquitted of all... Continue
MICHAEL AKINOLA  A 32-year old man, Olawale Benjamin, has been arrested and charged in... Continue
Emirates, the world’s largest international airline, marks 30 successful years of flying to Nairobi, Kenya.... Continue
Rice prices have dropped drastically in several Lagos markets, easing the burden on consumers.... Continue

UBA


Access Bank

Twitter

Sponsored