(Getty)
A diplomatic Vatican car was stopped at a France border checkpoint carrying four kilos of cocaine with an estimated street value of $817,000.
The car apprehended is a Jaguar owned by Cardinal Jorge Melia, a 91-year-old Vatican librarian who is currently recovering from a heart attack. It was being driven by two Italian citizens.
The Cardinal’s secretary gave the car to the two men so that they could service it, it is claimed.
They allegedly took advantage of car’s Vatican registration plates, driving to Spain, imagining that they would be able to pass all check points with diplomatic immunity.
The duo was stopped at a toll near Chambery in the French Alps, where police discovered the cocaine hidden in suitcases along with 150g of marijuana.
Pope Francis has already responded to the incident by saying, “Drug use is an evil and against evil there can be no yield or compromise.”