German authorities have uncovered a secret drug operation at a pizzeria in Düsseldorf where customers could order cocaine by asking for “pizza number 40” on the menu.
The suspicious popularity of this particular pizza first caught the attention of food inspectors in March. Michael Graf von Moltke, a criminal director, said: “It became one of the best selling pizzas.”
Inspectors raised concerns and the police launched an investigation. What they found confirmed their suspicions – pizza number 40 came with a side of cocaine.
At the press conference von Moltke revealed more, saying the 36 year old pizzeria manager tried to throw a bag of drugs out of the window during the raid on his home. Unfortunately for him the bag landed in the hands of the officers outside.
The seized items were 1.6kg of cocaine, 400g of cannabis and €268,000 in cash. Despite this the manager was released after a short detention and back to business as usual. He even continued to sell cocaine alongside pizza number 40.
This allowed the authorities to go deeper into the operation. After weeks of surveillance they executed a large scale raid with 150 officers and dismantled the drug network. Three main suspects were arrested, including the 22 year old ringleader of the operation.
12 other suspects had their homes searched and two cannabis growing setups were found – one with 300 plants in Mönchengladbach and one with 60 plants in Solingen. Weapons, cash and luxury items were also seized during the raids.
The pizzeria manager was re-arrested when trying to flee the country and is in custody. Due to german data protection laws the suspects names are not published and the price for the infamous pizza number 40 with cocaine is not disclosed.
Follow Us
