A group of Italian wild boars have left drug dealers in shock after they ate through a stash of cocaine the latter had hidden in a forest in Tuscany.

The incident occurred in a forest in Valdichiana valley in the Tuscan countryside near Arezzo where wild hogs are aplenty. Apparently, a group of hogs found the sealed air and water-tight package and managed to rip through it, spilling cocaine worth over Rs 15 lakh on the forest floor, The Telegraph reported.

The four dealers associated with the trafficking, who were furious upon finding out the hog-damage, were soon arrested by police. While the cocaine-loving hog may have helped the investigation along, police had been investigating the ring ever since May last year when an alleged drug dealer of Albanian descent murdered by an Italian.

What became of the hero pig who managed to pull of the unusual bust, or what effect the drugs had on it, remains unknown.

While the boars' insistent foraging helped police in the case, the animals are hardly popular in Italy. Many including farmers from across the country recently demanded a systemic culling of the boar population owing to their large population in the country.

Nevertheless, boars are not the first animals to show a penchant for drugs.

In the 1980, a bear in Kentucky, US, consumed about 40 kg of cocaine that had allegedly been dropped in a forest by a drug dealer. While the bear who ate all of it died instantly, his memory has been kept alive in Kentucky where he is affectionately remembered as 'Pablo EscoBear'.