World Cup: Colombia makes a cocaine-fueled contribution to the tournament

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Just when you thought the last word in bizarre World Cup sidelights had been written, there comes this item from Bogota, Colombia. We quote verbatim from the Associated Press account:

Fans worldwide have fashioned replicas of the World Cup trophy out of everything from papier-mâché to plastic. But a lawbreaker in Colombia gets top prize for most original material: cocaine.

Airports anti-drug chief Col. Jose Piedrahita says that Colombian authorities found the unusual statue during a routine security check by anti-drug agents Friday in a mail warehouse at Bogota’s international airport.

‘The 36-centimeter-high (14-inch-high) statue was inside a box headed for Madrid, Spain. The statue was painted gold with green stripes on the base.

Piedrahita said Saturday that laboratory tests confirmed the cup was made of 11 kilos (24 pounds) of cocaine mixed with acetone or gasoline to make it moldable.’

No word on whether FIFA’s ambush marketing police are on the case.

-- Grahame L. Jones in Cape Town, South Africa