In a shocking incident involving a botched drug operation, a 200-pound black bear tragically became an unintended victim of a plane carrying pure cocaine from Colombia.
The story of the bear’s demise, known as Cocaine Bear, will air on Channel 4 at 9:30 pm today. The bear, nicknamed Pablo EskoBear or Snow Bear, met its end after ingesting a staggering 90 pounds of high-grade cocaine, leading to a series of fatal health complications as confirmed by a medical examiner.
During the “Bluegrass Conspiracy” era in 1985, Andrew Thornton, a former narcotics officer turned drug trafficker, parachuted out of an aircraft over the US while transporting cocaine from Colombia. Unfortunately, Thornton’s parachute malfunctioned, causing him to fall to his death in Tennessee.
Authorities discovered 40 open containers of cocaine in Chattahoochee National Forest, where Thornton had hidden them. Surprisingly, they also found a deceased black bear near the containers, believed to have consumed some of the cocaine. There were no reports of the bear posing a threat before its demise.
Following a post-mortem examination, the bear was preserved and passed through different owners, eventually finding a permanent home at the Kentucky Fun Mall in Lexington.
While the bear was a notable casualty of Thornton’s drug operation, investigators later uncovered more drug caches discarded by Thornton in rural areas of Georgia and Tennessee. Thornton and his associates were found to have smuggled a substantial amount of cocaine into the US before his death.
The intriguing saga of the Cocaine Bear will be featured on Channel 4 at 9:30 pm on Saturday, January 31.
