Pope Francis looks on as he leads a special audience with pilgrims from Terni's diocese in Paul VI hall at the Vatican
Pope Francis looks on as he leads a special audience with pilgrims from Terni's diocese in Paul VI hall at the Vatican March 20, 2014. REUTERS/Remo Casilli

The Vatican could easily have received a box of cocaine and condoms if German officials did not intercept it.

The incident of German customs intercepting the special package to The Vatican in January was reported by German weekly "Bild am Sonntag" on Sunday March 23. A box 14 condoms filled with cocaine was sent to The Vatican. According to the report, the package had liquid cocaine worth around $55,000. It was apparently used as a trap to catch the person who would claim it. On the other hand, it was not disclosed whom exactly the pack of condoms was addressed to.

Leipzig airport authorities discovered the 340-gram pack which has 14 condoms ready to be shipped inside a shipment of cushions which came from Latin America. The pack did not have any specific recipient's name as it was merely addressed to The Vatican postal office. It meant that any one of the 800 residents at The Vatican could pick it up.

According to the German weekly, there was a sting operation arranged subsequently. The Washington Times reported that, according to AFP, the parcel was handed over to one of the police officers at The Vatican by the authorities. However, the sting operation which took place with the co-operation of The Vatican police was not successful. The parcel remained unclaimed since January. No one from The Vatican picked up the package, which indicated that the person was already informed about the sting operation.

The report has been confirmed by German Finance Ministry spokesman Martin Chaudhuri, CTV News reported. Mr Chaudhuri said that Leipzig prosecutors had plans to issue an official statement on the operation on Monday March 24. The statement will provide further details regarding the incident, he said.

Rev. Federico Lombardi, the spokesman of The Vatican, said that the German police received complete co-operation in the sting operation. Even though the traffickers were not identified, Rev. Lombardi said that the investigation was still open.

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