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8th January 2012
09:12am GMT
On the day of Manchester United’s biggest game of the season, it has been revealed that police in Manchester seized 29 bags of cannabis from a restaurant owned by Rio Ferdinand.
There is nothing to suggest that Ferdinand had anything to do with the large amounts of ganja stored on the premises of Italian restaurant Rosso in Manchester, but it is publicity he could do without with United locking horns with arch rivals Manchester City later this afternoon and the defender’s shady past.
The Star are reporting this morning that Manchester Police raided the restaurant with sniffer dogs on Friday afternoon and found 29 snap-sealed bags filled with cannabis in a locker during a search.
It is believed that they had a warrant out for a chef who used to work at the restaurant and were investigating whether drug dealing took place on the premises.
“There was a warrant out for the arrest of someone connected to the restaurant. Someone police believed used to work there,” a police source told the paper.
“There’s no reason to believe he used a staff locker to stash drugs with the intention of dealing them.”
A restaurant source added: “I’m sure Rio could do without it all but it’s his name on the place so he’ll be dragged into it.”
Greater Manchester Police said of the raid: “Police executed a search warrant at Rosso restaurant.
“As a result of the search, 29 bags believed to be cannabis were recovered. Inquiries are ongoing.”
No doubt weeding out the man responsible will be high on the list of priorities for Ferdinand, who won’t want to see his dreams for the restaurant go up in smoke.
He is said to have invested a sizeable chunk of money into the eatery, which is popular with celebs such as Wayne Rooney, James Corden, David Beckham and Elle ‘the body' Macpherson.
Ferdinand, of course, has history when it comes to drug scandals, having copped an eight-month ban and a £50,000 fine in 2003 for failing to show up for a drugs test.
On that occasion, he claimed to have simply "forgot" about having to take the test, but somehow we can't imagine that the City fans will let him forget about this latest brush with the law when he turns up at the Etihad later this afternoon.
