Rio Police Find Cocaine in Santa Dolls

RIO DE JANEIRO — Police found a holiday spirit of a different kind when they discovered Santa dolls containing cocaine and Christmas tree ornaments filled with marijuana in a shantytown near the city center.

A police spokesman said Tuesday that officers found the stash in a backpack at the Coroa residents association headquarters, where toys are wrapped and distributed for the holidays. The cocaine, in clear plastic bags, was hidden under the Santa dolls’ red cloth hats.

At Easter time, police found chocolate eggs laced with the drug.

Brazil is battling a growing drug trade as pressure on traffickers has increased in the neighboring cocaine-producing nations of Colombia, Bolivia and Peru.