World Cup replica made of cocaine

(AP)

Fans worldwide have fashioned replicas of the World Cup trophy out of everything from papier-mache to plastic. But a crook in Colombia gets top prize for most original material: cocaine.

Airports anti-drug chief Colonel Jose Piedrahita says that Colombian authorities found the unusual statue during a routine security check by anti-drug agents on Friday in a mail warehouse at Bogota's international airport. The 36-centimetre-high statue was inside a box headed for Madrid.

The statue was painted gold with green stripes on the base. Mr Piedrahita said at the weekend that laboratory tests confirmed the cup was made of 11 kg of cocaine mixed with acetone or gasoline.