It all began when police found pictures of a tiger cub on the phone of a suspect, reported Europe 1.
The suspect explained that a local cannabis dealer was charging customers an extra €5 for the chance to take a selfie with the feline.
As it's illegal to keep wild animals like tigers in France, police set out to hunt down the cat (and probably the dealer too).
However, the suspect apparently got wind of the operation and got rid of the tiger cub, which was found on Thursday in Noisy-Le-Sec, not far from the home of the suspected drug dealer to the north of Paris.
The tiger cub – described as being the size of a large domestic cat – was delivered over the weekend to the Tonga Terre d'Accueil animal centre in the Loire region, which looks after abandoned large cats and primates.
“He's not in too bad a state, but perhaps a bit skinny,” charity head Pierre Thivillon told France 3.
He added that the male tiger cub had been put in an enclosure next to a caged tigress.
“If they get on we will put them together,” he said. “He's very sweet, completely at ease with humans. He will have to get used to being with other tigers.”
The suspected drug dealer, meanwhile, remains at large.
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