Joshua Parfitt
SPAIN’S coronavirus quarantine is forcing us all to find creative ways to make ends meet – including drug dealers.
Unable to move house to house, sellers of illegal substances are hiding their wares in chocolate, a copy of 50 Shades of Grey and even inside protective masks.
It doesn’t always work. Below are seven occasions where police foiled a drug deal, COVID-19 style:
PASTAFARIAN
The most common route to a buyer is through person-to-person courier app Glovo.
One driver in the Salamanca district of Madrid found a block of hashish hidden in a box of 20 lasagna sheets.
HASH UP
Another deal was foiled by a Glovo driver, who found a stash of marijuana hidden inside a history book.
ABSOLUTE TOOL
A third Glovo driver encountered illegal substances hidden in a box of tools.
50 SHADES OF HAZE
A fourth Glovo driver, this time in Barcelona, was stopped by police with a copy of 50 Shades of Grey – discovering a more illicit stash of pills inside.
NUTRIENT BOOST
Police in Madrid stopped another courier in the city’s Centro district carrying packets of cacao, which turned out to conceal synthetic drugs and GHB.
PILLED OVER
Another delivery driver in Madrid was caught carrying a sheet of cardboard that turned out to conceal packets of cocaine, crystal meth, ecstasy and ketamine.
SNIFFED OUT
Lastly, a viral video of a man in Barcelona showed him revealing how to successfully conceal cocaine during a police block – by placing it inside a protective mask worn on the dealer’s own face.
The advice backfired, however, as police are currently seeking to detain the man on drug charges.
