Maybe Coca-Cola was trying to get back to their roots, or maybe someone mailed it to the wrong address, but a plant in France just found loads of cocaine in a shipping container.
A Coca-Cola plant in Signes, France found an unexpected surprise when workers opened a shipment container and found 815 pounds (370 kilos) of cocaine nestled among some drink products, The BBC reports Thursday.
The cocaine, valued at $55 million dollars, was sent from Costa Rica — which has become a hotbed for the drug — and was supposed to have contained orange juice extract. This particular plant is where various forms of drinks are made, according to The Telegraph.
Toulon prosecutor, Xavier Tarabeux, told The BBC it was a “very bad surprise.”
Investigators who are trying to figure out where exactly the cocaine came from, have ruled out the employees who found and first reported it.
“The first elements of the investigation have shown that employees are in no way involved,” Coca-Cola regional president Jean-Denis Malgras told The BBC.
Coca-Cola is reported to have made their original formula with small amounts of cocaine, although the company refutes it has ever done such.
The New York Times ran a story in 1988, in which they spoke with a company spokesperson who admitted there was cocaine in the original formula, but the company eventually was able to remove the narcotic while still using the coca leaves that give the drink its name.
“The original recipe included coca with cocaine, but the narcotic was removed just after the turn of the century,” The New York Times wrote about speaking with the spokesperson.
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