With FIFA paraphernalia now everywhere, an Argentinian drug gang was busted with World Cup trophy replicas full of marijuana and cocaine.

While the majority of Argentinians are lamenting Lionel Messi’s poor performance at the World Cup, a gang from the La Matanza district, Greater Buenos Aires, used the football craze to pedal drugs.

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Police found eight World Cup trophy replicas with 1.5kg of drugs inside each of them. They also seized weapons and vehicles during the bust, as well as 20kg of marijuana, 10kg of cocaine, and 1,800 doses of ‘paco,’ which is similar to crack.

Six people were arrested.

“It is important that they be imprisoned, that they not return to the business,” Buenos Aires Security Minister Cristiano Ritondo said.

Argentinian drug traffickers are some of the most inventive in their profession. Most recently they used narco-ambulances to disguise almost 100kg of marijuana and are constantly seeking new tactics to hide from the authorities.

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