Norway football star Erling Haaland has become a global sensation, with his face plastered across billboards, trading cards and television screens after scoring seven goals in four World Cup matches in July.
Now, police in Ecuador have found his image in a far more unexpected place: printed on green rectangular packages that were part of a 469-kilogram (1,034-pound) cocaine shipment seized from a truck near the Colombian border.
Police said the truck driver was arrested after the seizure Wednesday but offered no explanation for why stickers featuring the golden-haired Norwegian striker were plastered across the packages.
The use of Haaland’s image, however, appears to fit a broader practice among drug traffickers. Criminal groups often mark cocaine shipments with the names or images of famous athletes, celebrities and other public figures to identify the network behind the shipment or indicate its intended recipient.
A news release said anti-narcotics agents were conducting an operation following an anonymous tip received early Tuesday on the Pan-American Highway when they noticed a suspicious truck. After searching it, they found 370 packages hidden in a false bottom.
Police released a video showing the packages spilling out of the truck’s false bottom, with stickers of Haaland, who is often called a "pretty princess” and "babygirl” by his fans, clearly visible.
Haaland was one of the top scorers and most charismatic players at the World Cup held in Mexico, the United States and Canada, and his imposing stature and goofy sense of humor sparked a wave of creative viral videos and memes.
Haaland is not the only football star apparently favored by drug smugglers. The image of Argentine national team captain Lionel Messi has also appeared on another seized package.
Ecuador is considered a logistical hub for drug trafficking, where drugs are stockpiled, stored and distributed via Central American routes, mainly to the United States, though narcotics are also shipped to Europe.
Police said a woman identified only as Maria R., with Colombian identity documents, was arrested in Wednesday’s operation in the area of Guagua Negro, near the border city of Tulcán, 246 kilometers (153 miles) north of the capital, Quito.
The estimated value of the shipment is nearly $842,000 on the domestic market, more than $11 million in the United States and more than $19.6 million (17 million euros) in Europe.
In Ecuador, local criminal gangs allied with Colombian and Mexican cartels manage the routes and ship the narcotics, 80% of which originate in Colombia and the rest in Peru.
In the first half of this year, police reported seizing 80 tons of drugs, while in 2025 authorities confiscated nearly 215 tons, primarily cocaine. In 2024, the amount reached almost 295 tons.