Survivor is a reality show that is known for its twists and turns, but sometimes it seems like fact can be stranger than fiction. Did you know that a kilogram of cocaine once washed up on shore during the filming of Survivor: Panama?
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The ‘Survivor’ Contestant Who Found A Kilo Of Cocaine
The story was told by contestants for a few years, with Danielle DiLorenzo telling Entertainment Weekly about the incident. Bruce Kanegi confirmed her story, and Aras Baskauskas, who won that season, also mentioned the mysterious kilo.
However, another contestant, Shane Powers, gives a more detailed account of the story. According to him, “Aras and I were ‘showering’ at the beach, and a kilo of cocaine washed up at my feet. I ran into the woods with it and was going to bury it and think about what could be done with it.”
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“I got the machete and I sawed the tape with the machete. And I broke open 2.2 pounds of cocaine,” he shared. Powers, who has struggled with addiction, said that cocaine was never his drug of choice, but he did briefly consider if the cocaine might give his tribe an advantage during the competition: ”I was never a fan of cocaine in my personal life…but I had thoughts of maybe rubbing it on our gums before challenges to give us energy.”
Who Ended Up With The Drugs?
“That idea was quickly squashed,” he continued. “Production was on me pretty quickly. I’m trying to imagine the radio call on that: ‘Uh, someone… anyone from senior production, Shane has a kilo of coke on him and is running to the woods. Any thoughts on what to do…'”
Powers continued, “So they rushed over to me and they took it—they basically took the brick of cocaine.” There’s no confirmed story on where the drugs came from, but Powers has his own ideas about what the Survivor crew did with the cocaine.
“From what I understand and this is confirmed, I know the production had a mighty fine season,” Powers claimed. “Because those wonderful production people—you know there’s a couple hundred cats and they’re dealing with audio and all that, and they’re together for 39 days in that location. From what I understand, that cocaine did not go to waste. I believe that cocaine was snorted joyfully.” This is all unconfirmed, and it seems unlikely that the crew of the reality show would be using drugs that mysteriously washed up onshore, but it does make for a good story!