German customs officials have seized a shipment of cocaine that was intended for the Vatican: according to Bild am Sonntag, officers at Liepzig airport found 12 ounces of coke packed inside 14 condoms hidden inside a shipment of cushions coming from South America. According to Fox News, the package was addressed to a Vatican postal office, however, it had no specific person. It could have been picked up by anyone in the Holy See - there are over 800 residents in the Vatican.
The Vatican police were unable to capture the intended recipient, despite a sting operation coordinated between German authorities and Vatican police. No one has claimed the drug haul, suggesting that the intended recipient may have been tipped off about the secret operation. A spokesman for the German Finance Ministry confirmed the seizure of the drugs, which would have had a street value of several tens of thousands of Euros. Prosecutors in Leipzig will release a statement on Monday.
Rev. Federico Lombardi, a spokesman for the Vatican, confirmed that indeed the Vatican police had cooperated with German officials in an effort to identify the traffickers. The investigation remains open. The package of cocaine actually arrived at the Vatican in January but has sat there waiting to be claimed: officials from both countries were hopeful that a responsible figure would come forward leading to an arrest, however, the package has remained unclaimed for two months.
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