FRANCE
Times Live
he Vatican was left red-faced Tuesday after it emerged that a car bearing its diplomatic plates had been stopped in France with four kilogrammes of cocaine on board.
The car — which also contained 200 grammes of cannabis — belonged to 91-year-old Argentinian cardinal Jorge Mejia, emeritus librarian at the Holy See, who retired in 2003 and who is currently bedridden.
Pope Francis, a fellow Argentinian, visited Mejia, who was confined to a hospital in Rome after a heart attack, just two days after being elected.
French radio reported that the cardinal’s private secretary entrusted the vehicle to two Italian men to take it for its annual check-up.
The two men promptly drove to Spain to buy the drugs, thinking that they would be protected by the diplomatic plates, according to RTL radio — a scenario not yet confirmed by legal sources.
The pair were picked up on Sunday at a toll station near Chambery in the French Alps on their way back.
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