Brazilian shoppers discover cocaine in washing powder — as 80kg of class-A drug was sold in Sao Paulo supermarket Sao Paulo military police said they believed the soap powder boxes were put on the shelves by mistake

Dozens of Brazilians who went shopping for detergent were surprised to discover they’d bought Bolivian marching powder.

Police say 80kg of the class-A drug was sold as washing powder at the supermarket in the Ermelino Matarazzo district of Sao Paulo.

It all came to light when one customer alerted the authorities to the tablet of pressed cocaine in the innocent looking detergent packet.

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According to G1 news site, one customer attempted to return their powdered soap box, while another handed theirs into a local police station.

Drug trafficking suspicions

Limpando as ruas de criminosos: Policiais Militares prendem 4 que usavam caixas de sabão em pó para camuflar drogas. Veja mais: https://t.co/nyxd1QeVVT pic.twitter.com/OlYE8GPTR2 — POLÍCIA MILITAR – SP (@PMESP) July 15, 2019

Amid suspicions the shop is involved in drug trafficking, detectives posted a picture of the cocaine on Twitter saying they were “cleaning the streets of criminals”.

Sao Paulo military police said they believed the soap powder boxes were put on the shelves by mistake.

They said “individuals were unloading more of the same product” when officers arrived at the shop and that some had attempted to escape.

Four people, including three shop employees, have been arrested.