Norwegian soccer star Erling Haaland was already a big star, seeing as he plays for Manchester City in the Premier League, but his profile rose even more thanks to a strong World Cup showing and the way he embraced American culture.
You'd think that would be enough to say, "Yeah, this dude has made it," but I think a more recent incident is proof that he has "made it."
Is anyone really a global superstar until their face winds up plastered all over a seized shipment of cocaine somewhere in South America?
No. Not in my book.
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But Erling Haaland has hit the big times after police in Ecuador seized over a thousand pounds of packaged cocaine that had stickers with his face on it.
The 370 packages of Haaland-faced booger sugar were found in the false bottom of a truck that anti-narcotics agents pulled over on the Pan-American Highway.
According to The New York Post, the driver of the vehicle carrying the drugs was arrested (probably a good call), but he didn't explain why Haaland's mug had been plastered all over his shipment.
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However, it is known that criminal organizations slap the famous names and visages of celebrities and athletes on their "stuff" as a way of making it known which criminal network it came from and who the client is.
Also, maybe they do it so they have something else aside from drugs to talk about. If they hand someone a brick of cocaine with an R2-D2 sticker on it, they could be like, "Hey, what did you think of the sequel trilogy? It sucked, right?"
Hey, it can't just be all drug talk all the time. Even these guys have to have interests outside of work.
So being deemed famous enough to be on an illicit drug shipment? That's big.
Haaland is not the only World Cup star to get the drug-packaging treatment. Argentine captain and global superstar Lionel Messi has also wound up on packaging.