More than 500kg of cocaine has been found in a coffee delivery to Nestle’s Nespresso factory in Switzerland.
Just in case you were after a little extra pep in your step for your morning coffee.
The haul was found inside a container of coffee bean bags by police on Monday (May 2) that was said to be worth more than 50 million Swiss francs (US$50m, £41m, AU$70m).
Seems like Nespresso was running out of ways to increase that caffeine-prompted energy boost and were resorting to alternate methods. Not that Swiss coffee drinkers would be complaining.
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Nespresso staff at the plant in Romont, in the western Swiss canton Fribourg, found the white substance while unloading the bags of coffee beans that had arrived from Brazil, the police said in a statement.
In a statement to Reuters, Nespresso said: “The substance in question did not come into contact with any of our products or production equipment used to make our products.
"As a police investigation is underway, we cannot share more details. We want to reassure consumers that all our products are safe to consume.”
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According to Agence France-Press, police analysed the powder and said it was 80 per cent pure and destined for the European market.
It is not uncommon for cocaine to be smuggled in through shipments of coffee beans.
In September last year, the Australian Federal Police arrested a 41-year-old Spanish man in Wollongong after Colombian authorities had seized more than 35 kilograms of cocaine bound for Australia.
An air cargo consignment labelled ‘roasted coffee’ was bound for Wollongong from Bogota Airport.
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The cardboard box allegedly contained 67 bags of coffee and contained packets of a powdered substance weighing approximately 35.6 kilograms.
The man was charged with importing an illegal substance and trafficking a marketable quantity of a controlled drug.
In 2020, Italian police discovered cocaine stuffed inside of hollowed-out coffee beans, according to CNN.
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Only 130 grams were found in the two-kilogram shipment, however, they had been shipped to fictional Mafia boss Santino D’Antonio, from the movie John Wick: Chapter 2.
Some coffee drinkers claim they are addicted to caffeine anyway, so the common theme is evident.
I mean, if Elon is planning to buy Coca-Cola to put cocaine back into the beverage, perhaps there’s some sort of cross-brand alignment in the works between the soft drink company and Nestle.
Jayden Collins