A Coca-Cola facility in Peru once sold 42 pounds of byproduct cocaine
Ben Gilbert · Coca-Cola: The Complete History & Strategy (Audio) · Acquired · Nov 24, 2025 · at 3:46:19
Acquired co-host Ben Gilbert recounts a historical incident around 1930 involving Coca-Cola's Peruvian coca refining operations.
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“Around 1930, when they were really freaked out about whether or not they'd have the ability to import the coca leaves to the United States to do the refining here, they actually leased a secret cocaine refining facility in Peru. They spun the factory up. It was working. The employee manufactured Coca-Cola there, and the extracted cocaine that came off as a byproduct, they had a big amount of it, and they were trying to be a good employee to the company and earn some money with it. So they sold 42 pounds of cocaine to a narcotics broker in Paris, and the sale proceeds went in the Coca-Cola bank account.”
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