Lining up to see Kentucky’s Cocaine Bear

Black comedy Cocaine Bear lands in cinemas next year. While the film features a bear who embarks on a fictional killing spree, the true story is just as strange.

A black bear in Ontario, Canada.

Among the knick-knacks at the “Kentucky for Kentucky” gift shop in Lexington is an item unlike the rest: cocaine bear. The stuffed black bear may find itself in greater demand thanks to a film its story inspired.

Cocaine Bear, a black comedy directed by Elizabeth Banks and starring the late Ray Liotta, lands in cinemas next year. While the film features a bear who embarks on a fictional killing spree, the true story is just as strange.

The bear’s story begins in 1985 when Andrew Thornton - a drugs smuggler who was also a lawyer, polo player and former narcotics officer - was transporting cocaine from Colombia to the US. He had dumped packages over Georgia when he jumped from his Cessna plane, which was on autopilot.

Thornton got tangled up in the parachute and fell to his death. He was wearing Gucci loafers and a bulletproof vest and was found in possession of 35kg of cocaine. The Cessna came down more than 60 miles away in North Carolina. A 175lb black bear was later discovered dead in Georgia’s Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest among 40 opened plastic containers in which traces of cocaine were found. It had overdosed on the drugs.

Kentucky for Kentucky spoke to the medical examiner who performed the necropsy on the bear to get its history. It had been stuffed by a taxidermist and displayed at the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area. In the early 1990s it ended up in the hands of the late country music singer Waylon Jennings, who reportedly gave it to a friend in Las Vegas. It was later sold at auction to a Chinese immigrant in Reno who used it to decorate his medicine store.

Kentucky for Kentucky brought the bear - nicknamed Pablo EskoBear - to Lexington in 2015. Anne Livengood, sales and marketing director, said people came from around the world to have their picture taken with it. She expected a boost from the film. “A bunch of the cast and crew bought our Cocaine Bear merch. You can see Elizabeth Banks sporting our hat in her social media posts.”

The Times