42-piece dinner set made from cocaine

BARCELONA, Spain, March 20 -- Authorities in Spain said they have seized a 42-piece dinner set made from 45 pounds (20 kg) of cocaine and arrested the intended recipient.

It was an entire 42-piece crockery set, with plates, bowls, cups and saucers fit to honour any group of diners – especially if they had a serious drug habit.

Police said a 35-year-old Spanish man, identified only as JVLL, was arrested and charged with an offense against public health after police seized the package in an international operation coordinated with Venezuela, where the package originated, The Times of London reported Friday.

Investigators said they believe JVLL was forced into the deal by Venezuelan drug lords. The cocaine was intercepted after a tip-off about a suspicious package that had been sent by recorded delivery last month from Maracaibo. Police said that the drugs were meant to have been reprocessed and sold in Catalonia, northeast Spain.

Two weeks ago Spanish police arrested a Chilean man aged 66 with a broken leg whose “plaster cast” was made with cocaine. The man, who was arrested at Barcelona airport, also carried six cans of beer and two hollowed-out stools that contained the drug. Altogether, he was in possession of 4.85kg of cocaine.