A MOM has revealed how she bought a "creepy" $500 doll for her six-year-old daughter - which turned out to be stuffed with cocaine.
Elizabeth Faidley, from New Jersey, shared the horror story that took place in 2015 when she bought 'Pearl' the mermaid toy.
She posts the story each Christmas on Facebook and this year's retelling was met with a viral response of thousands of likes and shares.
As the story goes, in 2015, Elizabeth purchased her then-six-year-old daughter, Ellie, a handmade "mer-baby" - which her daughter had desperately wanted.
Elizabeth, a single mother from Begen, told the she bought the doll on Etsy – but when it arrived, the toy wasn't quite what Ellie or her mother had in mind.
As a posted on Elizabeth's Facebook shows, Ellie jumped back from the doll and shaking her head in disapproval when she discovered how "disgusting" it looked.
In an attempt to make the scale-painted doll appear prettier, Elizabeth even resorted to purchasing dye to change its hair from green to blonde – but to no avail.
So, Elizabeth said she carried out some research and discovered a "doll and teddy hospital" in New Jersey, which, for the cost of $500, would fix the doll and improve its appearance.
Elizabeth wrote on Facebook: "I pack Pearl up in a box and address it the doll hospital.
"I tell Ellie that Pearl is going off to the hospital to have her face and hair ‘adjusted.’ Ellie wisely informs me that ‘Pearl has even greater problems than those.’
"Then, she proceeds write on the box, ‘Please, please, help this doll. She has so many problems.'"
But while she was waiting for Pearl's improvements to be completed, Elizabeth said she received a shock called from Secaucus Police Department, in New Jersey.
According to Elizabeth, the police had been informed that when staff at the doll hospital removed Pearl’s head to repaint her offensive skin, they had discovered two ounces of cocaine stuffed inside.
After police ruled out Elizabeth and her family as suspects, law enforcement then focused their attention on a "sting" on the doll maker in Alabama, Elizabeth said.
She added that she later discovered the Etsy shop had actually used their mer-baby dolls as a front for smuggling drugs, and that detectives informed her that they had caught a person in Alabama related to the crimes.
Pearl, meanwhile, had to be kept by investigators to be used in evidence.
Elizabeth said that although the story is funny now, it wasn't at the time.
The year after it happened, Elizabeth was not willing to tell anyone about the traumatic experience.
But as time went on, she began sharing the tale with friends and family and, eventually, even on Facebook.
Her retelling post was accompanied by the video of Ellie opening the shocking gift, which has been viewed more than one-and-a-half million times.
Summarizing the experience, Elizabeth wrote: “Everything we do for our children….we try to get the best Christmas gift and accidentally buy a mermaby stuffed with cocaine and become embroiled in an international drug smuggling ring.
“I hope all of your holidays, Christmases, New Years, are exactly what you planned. And are mermaid-and-drug-free. And if cocaine accidentally shows up under your tree, know that I understand and that you tried your best.”
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