It does sounds like a plot from a Hollywood movie. But it actually happened. In 1985, a drug smuggler threw $15 million worth of cocaine from his airplane into a national forest in Georgia. A black bear found the cocaine and ate all of it. It went on a rampage. Then, it died of a massive overdose.
The smuggler was Andrew C. Thornton II. He was a former Lexington police department narcotics officer who had joined a notorious drug cartel known as “The Company.” He was flying a Cessna 404 Titan with his accomplice, Bill Leonard, after delivering a shipment of cocaine in Blairsville, Georgia. They planned to drop another load of 40 plastic containers of cocaine into the wilderness and then land in North Carolina.
But something went wrong. Thornton and Leonard decided to abandon the plane above Knoxville, Tennessee, and parachute to safety. Leonard made it, but Thornton did not. His body was found in a driveway with a duffel bag containing $4,500 in cash, night vision goggles, a pistol, and a knife. The cause of his death was unclear. Some said his parachute malfunctioned, others said he opened it too late, and some even speculated that a rival drug dealer shot him.
Meanwhile, a curious black bear discovered the cocaine that Thornton had dropped into the Chattahoochee National Forest. The bear was a female weighing about 175 pounds. She tore open the containers and consumed the cocaine, which had a street value of $20 million (equivalent to $54.4 million in 2022). The bear must have felt an intense rush of euphoria. Then, she experienced a violent agitation and a fatal cardiac arrest.
The bear’s body was found three months later by a hunter, who alerted the authorities. So, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation conducted an autopsy. They confirmed that the bear had died of a cocaine overdose.
The chief medical examiner, Dr. Kenneth Alonso, said that the crazy bear’s stomach was “literally packed to the brim with cocaine”. He estimated that she had absorbed only 3 to 4 grams into her bloodstream at the time of her death, but that was enough to kill her.
The bear was taxidermied and donated to the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, where she was displayed as a cautionary tale of the dangers of drugs. But the bear’s story did not end there. She mysteriously disappeared from the park and resurfaced in a pawn shop. She was then bought by a man named Waylon Jennings, who claimed to be a friend of Thornton. Jennings later sold the bear to a lawyer named Don Banta, who kept her in his office.
In 2015, a group of entrepreneurs acquired the bear. They run a “Kentucky for Kentucky Fun Mall” store in Lexington, Kentucky. They named her “Pablo EskoBear” and made her the star attraction. The bear is part of their quirky collection of Kentucky-themed merchandise. Now, she attracts visitors from all over the world. They come to see the infamous “cocaine bear” for themselves.
The Bear’s saga has also inspired several adaptations in popular culture. In 2023, a comedy thriller titled “Cocaine Bear” was released, starring Elizabeth Banks, Ray Liotta, and John Goodman. The film was loosely based on true events but added fictional elements such as a DEA agent, a love triangle, and a showdown with a drug lord. The film was a box office hit and received positive reviews from critics and audiences alike.
In 2023 another documentary film, “Cocaine Bear: The True Story” was released. It featured interviews with experts, witnesses, and relatives of Thornton. The documentary explored the historical context of the drug trade in 1980s America, the rise and fall of Thornton and his cartel, and the impact of the cocaine bear on the local community and the environment. The documentary was praised for its thorough research and balanced perspective on the complex and tragic story.
The cocaine bear is a remarkable example of how nature and human folly can collide in unexpected and bizarre ways. The bear’s fate is tragic and absurd, and her legacy is fascinating and cautionary. As one of the documentary’s filmmakers said, “It’s a story you can’t make up. It’s stranger than fiction.”
