LESSON NOT LEARNT: The restaurant manager, who was released from detention, soon started selling pizza No. 40 with the cocaine side order again, police said
AP, BERLIN
German police have busted a pizzeria in the western city of Dusseldorf that also delivered a side order of cocaine when customers asked for item No. 40 on the menu.
“That was one of the best-selling pizzas,” criminal director Michael Graf von Moltke told reporters in Dusseldorf on Monday.
He said police were first tipped off by suspicious food inspectors in March.
A pizza is pictured in Madrid on April 18 last year.
Photo: EPA-EFE
When drug squad officers began observing the restaurant, they soon discovered why pizza No. 40 was so popular, Moltke told reporters, German news agency DPA reported.
When police buzzed the apartment of the pizzeria manager, the 36-year-old allegedly threw a bag of drugs out of the window, which “fell right into the arms of the police officers,” Dusseldorf police said.
The bounty included 1.6kg of cocaine, 400g of cannabis and 268,000 euros (US$290,950) in cash.
Police said the restaurant manager, who was released from detention after a few days, soon reopened his business and allegedly started selling pizza No. 40 with the cocaine side order again.
That gave investigators an opportunity to look into the supply chain and after several weeks, about 150 officers busted an entire drug ring in western Germany, arrested three suspects including the 22-year-old head of the drug operation, and raided homes and businesses of another 12 suspects, police said.
During the raids, they came across two cannabis plantations in nearby Moenchengladbach and Solingen with 300 and 60 plants respectively.
They also found cutting and stabbing weapons, as well as cash and expensive watches, DPA reported.
The pizzeria manager was arrested when he tried to flee abroad and remains in custody. None of the suspects’ names were released in line with German privacy rules.
Police did not say how much the pizzeria charged for the special order.
