Custom officials in Germany seized a shipment of cocaine mailed to the Vatican in January, according to the weekly Bild am Sonntag on Sunday.
340 grams (12) ounces of cocaine were found by officers at Leipzig Airport stuffed into 14 condoms inside a shipment of cushions. The shipment was sent from South America, according to the paper, citing a German customs report. The paper said it was simply addressed to the Vatican postal office, which means any of the Catholic mini-state’s 800 residents could have picked it up.
The paper also reported that a sting operation arranged with Vatican Police failed to arrest the person who would have received the package. No one showed up to claim the package, indicating that the person was tipped off about the sting. Street value of the drugs was estimated to be several tens of thousands of euros.
The report was confirmed by a spokesman for the German Finance Ministry, the Ministry oversees the customs office. A statement will be issued on Monday by Leipzig prosecutors giving more details, Martin Chaudhuri told The Associated Press.
Rev. Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman confirmed that police at the Vatican had cooperated with German Police in attempts to identify the drug traffickers. He said the investigation remained open.
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