just like the good ones thriller moviesThe latest narcotics case handled by police in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany’s most populous state, is full of unexpected events and the occasional funny scene. At the end of the day, German police managed to dismantle a gang dedicated to drug dealing and capture a dangerous criminal based on an unusual clue: pizza.

A very special pizza, yes, the star ingredient is not pineapple chunks, anchovies, cheese, pepperoni or any of the common ingredients in Italian food. His big secret was cocaine.

To understand this, you need to go back to March, when during a routine health inspection at a Düsseldorf pizzeria, authorities found more than just flour, cheese and jars of sauce in the kitchen. They discovered drugs. Thereupon, they reported the situation to the police, who began investigating the incident and discovered an interesting detail: Pizza number 40 on their menu was a surprising success among the customers of the establishment located in the alcoholic area of ​​the city.

N°40, star meal

“It was one of the pizzas best selling” recalls Chief Inspector Michael Graf von Molkte. This might have remained a simple kitchen anecdote if the agents had not discovered that the famous pizza No. 40 was not an ordinary pizza at all. It contained a very strange secret ingredient.

More precisely, it was accompanied by a side dish that is not often seen among the usual ingredients of traditional Neapolitan cuisine: cocaine.

A bag of white powder slid under each of the round dough bases with cheese and tomatoes. “This was new to us, it surprised us,” von Molkte admits. The surprise came not only because of what the German press was already calling “Pizza Cocaine”. The 36-year-old Croatian owner of the restaurant did not look like a criminal experienced in drug dealing. First of all, he had no record of similar crimes.

However, appearance is one thing, reality is another.

When the police arrived at his home, the hotel owner tried to get rid of the evidence by throwing a bag of drugs out the window, but he did so with such bad (or good) intent that it fell right on the officers. as required SpiegelDuring the operation, 1.6 kilos of coca, 400 grams of marijuana and approximately 268 thousand euros in cash were seized, among other items. The pizza man was arrested, but since he had no criminal record, he was back on the street a few days later.

The story could have ended here.

But the second plot was still missing.

Getting caught red-handed (sorry for the joke) didn’t help narco-pizzaro He learned his lesson, and when he went out two days later, he decided to return to his restaurant and market his unique dish: pizza number 40. With a good dose of cheese, sauce, dough… and a garnish of coke.

It was lucky for the police because they were able to do more than collect evidence against the pizza maker. He decided to go further and investigate their supply chain, which soon led him to an old acquaintance of the agents, a 22-year-old Urso expert in martial arts who, according to Von Moltke, was “violent and unscrupulous.”

In fact, German authorities suspect he has attacked and robbed rival drug traffickers in the past and even held one of them hostage for two nights before taking marijuana he had hidden in his home. Police soon suspected him of dealing cocaine and marijuana.

Conclusion? What started as a routine food department audit at a pizzeria in Düsseldorf ended with a result. large device The operation involved 150 agents and carried out searches in Wuppertal, Mönchengladbach, Solingen, Meerbusch, Hilden, Haan and Erkrath.

In addition to the Russian mixed martial arts expert, investigators also detained a 30-year-old alleged German smuggler from Cologne and a 28-year-old Moroccan who was captured in Haan, not far from Düsseldorf. A dozen more people are considered suspects. when it comes narco-pizzaroSpiegel announced that the authorities arrested him again while he was trying to escape abroad.

Gang accused of buying “kilo” coca and marijuana In addition to growing marijuana in private apartments, they sell it to other traffickers. One of the plantations had about 300 plants; the other was about 60. Agents also found cash and guns. The young Russian martial arts expert faces 15 years in prison for various crimes.

Little is known about the cola pizza, except that the pizzeria’s slogan is “We bring it all to your home.” If you’re wondering about its ingredients and whether it contains pineapple or anchovies, bad luck: The police have already said they won’t release its contents.

Pictures | Nix Company (Unsplash) and Find Rehab Centers (Flickr) and Alan Hardman (Unsplash)

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