A 200-pound black bear met a tragic end after ingesting a massive quantity of cocaine dropped from an airplane during a botched drug smuggling operation in 1985. This real-life incident, which inspired the popular film Cocaine Bear, highlights the dangers of illicit narcotics trafficking and its unexpected consequences.
The Deadly Discovery
Investigators stumbled upon the bear’s body in Georgia’s Chattahoochee National Forest amid scattered plastic containers of pure Colombian cocaine. The animal, later nicknamed Pablo Esco-Bear or Snow Bear, had consumed approximately 90 pounds of the drug. A medical examiner who conducted the necropsy described the scene: “Its stomach was literally packed to the brim with cocaine. There isn’t a mammal on the planet that could survive that.” The bear succumbed to multiple organ failures, including cerebral hemorrhaging, respiratory failure, hyperthermia, renal failure, heart failure, and stroke.
Andrew Thornton’s Ill-Fated Flight
The events trace back to Andrew Thornton, a former narcotics officer who had turned to drug smuggling. Piloting a small aircraft loaded with cocaine from Colombia, Thornton bailed out mid-flight over the southeastern United States. He dropped about 40 containers of the substance into the forest before his parachute tangled, leading to his fatal fall in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Authorities searching the area anticipated recovering a $15 million drug stash. Instead, they found the containers ruptured and the bear dead nearby. No signs indicated the cocaine-fueled animal had caused any damage or aggression before its death. Officials believe the bear ingested only a fraction of the total load, with the rest likely lost or unrecovered.
Preservation and Legacy
Following the autopsy, taxidermists preserved the bear’s body, which has since passed through various owners, including reports of country music star Waylon Jennings acquiring it temporarily. A local Kentucky business eventually tracked it down and placed it on display at the Kentucky Fun Mall in Lexington, where visitors still view the specimen decades later.
The incident unfolded during what investigators term the “Bluegrass Conspiracy,” a period of widespread drug trafficking in the region. Further probes revealed Thornton and his associates had smuggled 880 pounds of cocaine into the U.S., with additional bags of drugs abandoned across rural areas in Georgia and Tennessee.
