Police in Ecuador have uncovered a massive haul of cocaine packaged under the image and name of Manchester City striker Erling Haaland.
Officers stopped a truck near the Colombian border on Wednesday and discovered hundreds of drug bricks hidden inside a secret compartment.
The packages featured the Norwegian forward’s face as their cover design.
Interior Minister John Reimberg confirmed the seizure in an official update.
“Our teams acted on solid intelligence and intercepted the vehicle before it could move further into the country,” he said.
“The hidden load consisted of hundreds of carefully wrapped blocks of cocaine.”
The operation took place in the Guagua Negro area of Tulcán, a border city roughly 246 kilometres north of Quito.
An anonymous tip prompted officers to pull over the suspicious truck along the Pan-American Highway.
A thorough search revealed 370 green rectangular bricks concealed in a false floor.
Authorities estimated the total weight at nearly 470 kilograms. Police valued the shipment at around £14.5 million if sold on European streets.
Officers arrested the driver, a Colombian woman identified as María Camila Rosero Caicedo. She was taken into custody along with the vehicle and a mobile phone found inside.
Investigators stressed they have found no evidence linking the footballer himself to the drugs.
“We are still examining every lead, but there is nothing at this stage connecting Haaland to the shipment,” a police spokesperson noted.
The use of celebrity faces on drug packages is not new in the region.
Traffickers often stamp popular athletes’ images onto bricks, treating the names as informal brand markers. Lionel Messi’s likeness has appeared on earlier seizures.
Haaland’s recent form has kept his image highly visible.
After scoring seven goals in four matches at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, his face has featured widely on billboards, trading cards and television across Ecuador.
Police say the investigation continues as they work to trace the origin of the consignment and any wider network involved.