Rio drug dealers using Olympic rings to sell cocaine
Who says the Olympics aren’t boosting the Brazilian economy?
The latest news coming out of Rio suggests that the games are indeed serving as a catalyst for local business — just not in the way you might expect. And probably not in the way the Brazilian government envisioned, because it’s not legal business.
Apparently drug dealers in Rio de Janeiro are taking advantage of their country’s hosting of the games to drive sales:
Rio cocaine dealers now using the Olympic logo, plus the warning “don't use near children,” which is very thoughtful pic.twitter.com/8M0e551eej
— Alex Cuadros (@alexcuadros) July 26, 2016
And what’s more, they’re even doing so responsibly! “USE LONGE DAS CRIANCAS” translates to “USE AWAY FROM CHILDREN.”
[Related: IOC to provide 42 condoms per athlete at Rio Olympics]
No word yet on whether the IOC will seek out the dealers to punish them… But not for selling cocaine of course; rather, for copyright infringement. Remember, non-partners of the IOC or national Olympic committees can’t use the word Olympics, or any Olympic-related slogan or logo, for commercial purposes.
We’re going to guess that the seller of this cocaine has not paid millions of dollars to the IOC for the exclusive rights to use those Olympic rings on their product.
