Ecuador police seize nearly 370kg of cocaine bearing Erling Haaland’s photos

• Ecuador police seized 369kg of cocaine in a truck near the Colombian border, with packages bearing images of footballer Erling Haaland.
• The cocaine shipment was hidden in a false bottom and valued at over US$11 million (S$14.1 million), according to police reports.
• A woman named Maria R. was arrested during the operation, which followed an anonymous tip to anti-narcotics agents.

From a standout performance at the 2026 FIFA World Cup tournament to becoming a social media phenomenon for his tall stature and goofy sense of humour, Erling Haaland has gone viral for various reasons in the last few months.

But on Aug 12, the Norwegian made headlines for the wrong reasons – through no fault of his own – after his image was found on a 369kg cocaine shipment seized by Ecuador police.

Photos of the Manchester City striker were printed on green rectangular packages of a shipment seized in a truck near the Colombian border, reported the Associated Press (AP) and CNN.

The packages contained substances that tested positive for cocaine, the head of the Carchi anti-narcotics unit in Ecuador, Ximena Sangolquiza, told AP.

No explanation for the photos of Haaland was provided. However, it is common for drug shipments to be labelled with the names or images of well-known athletes and other celebrities to signal who produced the drugs and to whom they belong.

Citing a police news release, CNN said that anti-narcotics agents were acting on an anonymous tip received early on Aug 11 and noticed a suspicious truck on the Pan-American Highway.

They searched the truck and found the 370 packages hidden in a false bottom of the truck.

The police said a woman identified only as Maria R., with Colombian identity documents, was arrested in the Aug 12 operation near the border city of Tulcan, 246km north of the capital of Quito.

The estimated value of the shipment was more than US$11 million (S$14.1 million) in the US, reported AP.