Ecuadorian authorities have seized 369kg of cocaine from a truck near the Colombian border, with the drug packages carrying stickers bearing the image of Norwegian football superstar Erling Haaland.
Anti-narcotics officers reportedly intercepted the suspicious truck on Wednesday after receiving an anonymous tip and searching it along the Pan-American Highway.
According to Ecuador’s National Police, officers discovered 370 packages of cocaine hidden inside a false compartment in the vehicle and arrested the driver.
Police footage from the operation showed the cocaine bricks wrapped with stickers featuring Haaland, who became one of the standout stars of the 2026 FIFA World Cup after scoring seven goals in four matches.
Authorities have not disclosed why the traffickers used Haaland’s image on the cocaine packages.
However, CNN reported that it is “common practice for drug traffickers to label their shipments with the names of well-known sports figures and other celebrities” as a way of indicating “which criminal network produced the merchandise and which client it belongs to.”
Haaland’s image is not the first belonging to a football superstar to surface on seized narcotics. The report also noted that “The image of Argentine national team captain Lionel Messi has also appeared on another seized package.”
The latest drug bust occurred in the Guagua Negro area near Tulcán, approximately 246km north of Ecuador’s capital, Quito.
Police also arrested a woman identified only as María R., who was reportedly carrying Colombian identity documents.
The seized cocaine was estimated to be worth nearly $11m in the United States and more than $19.6m in Europe.
Ecuador has become a major transit point for international drug trafficking, with criminal gangs linked to Colombian and Mexican cartels reportedly using the country to stockpile and transport narcotics mainly to the United States and Europe.
The report said about 80 per cent of cocaine trafficked through Ecuador originates from Colombia, while the remainder comes from Peru.
Ecuadorian police said they seized 80 tonnes of drugs in the first half of 2026, compared with nearly 215 tonnes in 2025 and almost 295 tonnes in 2024, with cocaine accounting for the bulk of the seizures.
The bizarre discovery has drawn attention because of the unexpected use of Haaland’s image on the illicit shipment, highlighting the unusual branding tactics reportedly employed by internationall drug trafficking networks.
