Police in Peru have reportedly seized a staggering $91 million (£73million) worth of cocaine branded with non other than Lionel Messi, whose face is on the packaging, SI writes.
The stash, which weighed 1.417 kilograms, had Messi’s logo, his name and also had the royal seal of the King of Spain on the packaging, and was ingenuously hidden inside 1,200 giant squid fillets.
An image of five packages wrapped in cling film was uploaded to Twitter by the handle, @TeamFA, with a picture of the Argentine maestro in a Barcelona shirt in the bottom right corner.
https://twitter.com/TeamFA/status/844849775073636353
Also stamped across this packaging is his name with an icon resembling his official “M” logo and what looks like a Nike football.
Talk about smearing one’s image!
There hasn’t been any report of arrests as authorities in Peru claim the packages – the second largest in the country this year – arrived from the Apurimac, Ene and Mantaro Rivers Valley region in Peru and were destined for Europe.
Curiously, this isn’t the first time the Argentine no 10 has had his image smeared across cocaine seized in a bust.
In December 2015, authorities in New York arrested two men in the Bronx and seized $3 million worth of cocaine, some of which was stamped with the word “Messi” on the bricks.
Messi, 29, may go down as the most inspirational player the game has ever seen, but it appears the exact reach of his influence is just a staggering as his mesmeric talents on the pitch.
The five-time ballon d’Or winner pockets around £20million-a-year through endorsements, however, there can be little doubt that these perps didn’t plan on paying for ‘image rights’ before going ahead with the deal.
