The editor of a satirical magazine is due to appear in court in Spain over a tongue-in-cheek article that suggested the riot police deployed to stop the Catalan independence vote had snorted the region’s entire supply of cocaine. On 5 October, four days after the Catalan government’s unilateral independence referendum was marred by police violence, El Jueves published a story entitled: “The continuing presence of riot police exhausts Catalonia’s cocaine reserves – Colombian cartels have warned they can’t keep up with such high demand.”

The piece included quotes from a made-up drug dealer, who complained: “I haven’t got a gram left, mate. No speed either. They’ve had it all. And you can’t sell this lot any old shit – they’re professional junkies!” It also said officers billeted on the famous Tweety Pie ferry – a ship featuring a painting of the cartoon character that was used to house the police – were appealing for grateful Spaniards to send them cocaine rather than ham, and reported that Spain’s interior minister was worrying that police might turn to MDMA instead: “How are we going to maintain order if some officers are more interested in stroking their own bodies?”(theguardian)…[+]