“You can well imagine the surprise,” says a company spokesman, when sacks of the drug are uncovered in a shipment from Costa Rica.
Workers at a Coca-Cola factory found a huge stash of cocaine inside a shipment of fruit juice in southern France.
Sacks containing 370kg of the drug – with a potential street value of about €50m (£42.3m) – were discovered, local newspaper Var-Matin reported.
“You can well imagine the surprise,” said a spokesman for Coca-Cola.
The Coca-Cola factory in Signes, southern France
The staff unearthed the haul when they opened a delivery of fruit juice concentrate from Costa Rica last Friday.
They immediately alerted police and were ruled out as potential suspects.
An investigation into trafficking and importing of illegal drugs has been launched by the Marseille prosecutor’s office.
The factory, situated in the town of Signes, near the Mediterranean, produces concentrates for various drinks.