Police in Spain have detained a man accused of trying to smuggle half a kilogram of cocaine into the country under a comically large toupee.
The Colombian man arrived in Barcelona on a flight from Bogota on June 18, according to the Spanish National Police. Authorities noticed he was wearing a very tall wig and looked extremely nervous. He was also wearing a hat in an effort to conceal the wig.
Police questioned the man and asked him to remove the wig. He did so, revealing a large packet of cocaine glued to his balding head.
“The ingenuity of drug traffickers has no limit when trying to circumvent customs,” police wrote in a Facebook post.
Authorities were paying close attention to passengers after the flight was flagged as “hot,” meaning it might be transporting a smuggler. The sting was dubbed “Operation Toupee.”
The cocaine could be worth up to 30,000 euros ($44,000), according to police.
The suspect, 65, has been charged with a crime against public health, the newspaper La Vanguardia reports.
Smugglers have been caught trying to sneak drugs across international borders in all sorts of ways. Police have found drugs hidden inside breast implants, fake buttocks, wigs and various articles of clothing.
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