No. 40 was a bestseller

German restaurant served cocaine with pizza

(Bild: stock.adobe.com/ronstik)

A lucrative but illegal business idea has landed a restaurant operator in Düsseldorf behind bars: anyone who ordered the No. 40 from him also got a pinch of cocaine as a side dish. "It was one of the best-selling pizzas," explained an investigator.

The No. 40 was usually on the menu, but the customers of the special pizza had probably ordered it because of the side dish: There was "a packaged portion of cocaine on the side", as the executive reported on Facebook. The police became aware of this business model and uncovered many more crimes in the course of the investigation. 

Drug pizzeria was under surveillance
The officers found out what the special pizza was all about during a food inspection in March. The pizzeria was subsequently placed under surveillance by drug squad officers. They not only found out that No. 40 was very popular - and that the 36-year-old restaurateur was involved in far more drug deals. 

The Düsseldorf police post on Facebook.

Restaurateur threw drug bag into the arms of police officers
When police officers knocked on the restaurant owner's door, they threw more evidence right at his feet, the authorities reported. The 36-year-old actually wanted to get rid of a bag full of drugs and threw it out of the window. "It fell right into the arms of the police officers," police and prosecutors described the bizarre situation according to the magazine "Spiegel". They were able to seize 1.6 kilograms of cocaine, 400 grams of cannabis and 268,000 euros in cash.

Brutal drug gang busted
The restaurateur was released and the pizzeria was open again just two days later: The bestseller no. 40 was also back on the pizza counter. The investigators then decided to track down the restaurant owner's suppliers. They came across a 22-year-old martial artist known to the police. The Russian is said to have traded kilos of cocaine and marijuana. The drug squad discovered that he had probably assaulted and robbed other drug dealers. 

The 22-year-old as well as a 30-year-old and a 28-year-old associate were finally arrested. In addition to drugs, weapons, cash and luxury watches were confiscated in several cities. Two cannabis plantations were discovered. After the 36-year-old cocaine-pizza restaurateur had unsuccessfully tried to flee abroad, he was also arrested.